Darkfire
by DestinyChangers
Summary: After an accident while on a mission with his teacher Aria, Boone was left stranded to fight for his survival against the creatures of Grimm the enemy of mankind. After three years Boone made it back to the kingdom of Vale where he is enrolled as a student at Beacon academy. Here he will continue his training as a hunter and fight the Grimm with the help of the rest of team RWBY.
1. Chapter 1

Fire Swept through the hallway of the house. Scorching all that lay in its path. Filling the house with a thick smoke. Choking the small child hiding in the closet. His fear not cause b the fire but the monsters sound of hundreds of pounding feet caused the ground to tremble as they destroyed everything in their paths. Cowering in the corner of the small closet the light of the fire illuminating the inside of the closet

The child waited for the embrace of death. The sound of the pounding feet was suddenly quiet. All that could be heard was the crackling of the raging fire. All at once an explosion of noise pierced the silence as a battle commenced moving around the house. Howls of pain growing louder as the monsters fell to their foe. Slowly the sound of steps could be heard approaching the closet. The door was ripped from its hinges and the child looked up expecting one of the monsters. Instead, he saw a woman.

8 Years later

Opening the door to the house I headed toward the bathroom for a quick shower after my long day of in the mirror I saw the results of my hard work. Being only twelve my muscles were nowhere close to being big. However, they were well defined. Being five foot one also helped yo make me an inch taller than most kids my age. Feeling proud I quickly got in the shower

Twenty minutes later I left the bathroom to search the house for the only other resident. Moving down the main hallway Of the house began checking rooms. Heading toward the family room I heard a noise come from the kitchen. Turning the corner I found the source of the at the table was a tall woman with long white and red hair. Wearing combat armor that matched the color of her hair. Her armor complimented her Athletic build as she packed a variety of gear into a bag. Looking up her red eyes met my own.

"Where are you going." I asked. She smiled "I was assigned a recon mission to check out some Grimm activity, but it's not just me going. You're coming along." "Wait seriously. Aria you never take me on missions" grinning as I couldn't wait to leave. Continuing to place gear in her bag she replied "I've been training you for years and I believe you're ready for some live action. Now go pack your gear we leave in an hour." Sitting in the bullhead we flew towards the designated landing zone deep inside Grimm territory. Looking out the door the view below was astounding. Mixes of all types of trees littered the ground ranging in all sizes and colors. "Don't Fall Boone. Not even your Aura would save you from a drop this high up" Aria shouted over the torrent of wind.

Leaning back in I looked at her while she concentrated on checking her gear and weapons. Deciding to do the same I made sure all my gear was secure. Strapped to my left hip was a .44 magnum loaded with fire dust rounds. On my back in a simple sheath was my falchion hardened using dust so it could cut through Grimm with ease. Next I checked my armor to make sure none of the straps were loose. Almost identical to Aria's minus that it was smaller and colored white and black. Looking up Aria was wearing her armor while her hair was in a braid reaching down to the small of her back. Attached to each of her hips was a kukri. Each had the ability to have the blade detach on a chain so they could be used like a kusarigama. Looking up at me she smiled "This is a standard recon mission. In and out." "How long will it be" I responded. "We get picked up at 1700 hours." Checking her watch "That gives us about 6 hours." Wow this would be an easy first mission. Kill some Grimm explore a little then go home. I thought to myself.

Jumping out of the bullhead we hit the ground and quickly headed into the forest. The site from the trees was nothing compared to looking up through the canopy. Rays of sun pierced the canopy falling hundreds of feet the showing the forest floor. Signs of life were everwhere from the call of wild birds to the footprint of Ursa all around.

Moving slowly and carefully as not reveal ourselves we headed west towards the mission zone. After an hour of walking in eerie silence we reached the clearing. Opening up to an area the size of a football stadium with large purple crystal piercing through the ground. Laying in the center was a large crack in the ground. A black ooze seeped out forming a pool that spread through cracks in the ground. The ooze moved and shifted in the pool spreading farther and farther than receding as if alive.

Slowly moving towards the crack we watched for any sign of uninvited guests. Aria Looked at me and held up her hand indicating to hold where I was. Not looking back she said "I'm gonna check that out get ready for anything." Pulling out my sword and revolver I gripped the falchion in my right hand. Cocking the hammer of the magnum back I looked at the tree line for any signs of Grimm.

Aria approached the crack cautiously. Stepping in between the web of ooze as it moved attempting to grab hold of her. While Aria approached the pool I turned around to cover are backs so no uninvited Grimm could attack. Seeing movement along the tree lines I raised my weapons ready for a fight. Before I could even pull the trigger I heard Aria scream "Oh Shit." Spinning around I saw what had caused a trained huntress to have such fear in her voice. A figure was pulling itself free from the pool. The creature stood and turned to face us. Standing at 7 feet tall the creature was humanoid with long black claws. Is head was a large bone mask with red markings and red piercing eyes. Hunched over the creature looked at use as darkness seemed to flow off its body.

Turning toward me Aria screamed "Run" but was too late. Out of the woods poured hundreds of Grimm. Groups of Beowolves and Ursa heading straight toward us. Tumbling over each other the Grimm had only one intent. To kill. "We have to fight Their is no way we are going to out run them." Aria stopped pulling her weapons out of her sheaths. Doing the same I turned toward the horde of Grimm ready to fight.

The first group Beowolves came down on use running at full speed. Setting my stance I ran toward the group not waiting for them to strike. Ducking below a Beowulf's attack I unloaded a round into its skull. Not looking back to check I moved onto the next target. After dispatching three other Grimm including a Ursa I stopped to catch my breathe. This was a rookie mistake as I was quickly surrounded. Planting my feet I slid my magnum into its sheath the clicked a button on the side of my swords hilt. The handle extended to fit both my hands comfortably while the blade extended to a four and a half foot blade.

To my left Aria was expertly taking out Grimm with ease. Weaving between Grimm she would slice deep wounds into weak points along their armor disabling and killing them. Standing back Aria let her kukri extend into the kusarigama form. Heavy weights on the handle fell down connected together by a chain while the kukri's blade turned ninety degrees forming the scythes. Wielding the kusarigama Aria was able to kill Grimm quickly like any skilled warrior. Spinning the blades chain she sent a blade into the eye of an Ursa and the other into a Beowolfs chest. Pulling the chain free she sent them again and again at the group of Grimm. Soon very few remained with the ability to come after her while others lay bleeding to death from fatal wounds.

Impressed by my teachers work I focused back to the Grimm surrounding me. With my sword in its two handed mode it was slower and harder to swing but could cleave an Ursa in half. Focusing on my stance I held the blade to my left and charge forward toward the bear like Ursa. Stopping in front of the Ursa I planted my foot and swung disemboweling it. Another Ursa charged from behind me and another to my left. Spinning I sent the blade through one of the Ursa arms and into the others neck. A Beowolf pounced toward my before I could react knocking me over. Pulling my magnum from its holster I sent three rounds into its heart. Pulling myself free I made my way toward my sword laying quite a distance away. Keeping any Grimm back using the magnum I reached my sword picking it up. Clicking the button it returned to its one handed form. Reloading I prepared to resume the fight. The Grimm didn't have the same idea as they sunk back to the forest. This was unheard of Grimm never fled in terror.

From Behind me a large claw grasped me around my neck lifting from the ground. Before I could fight its grip I felt my energy leave my body. The creature holding me was none other than the one who had climbed out of the black ooze. The grip began to tighten cutting off my air flow. Feeling a rush of adrenaline I pointed my magnum at where I thought its head was and fired.

The shot pierced through its shoulder causing the grip to loosen. Pulling myself free I hit the ground gasping for air as it once again flowed into my lungs. Aria had already began attacking the creature with the rage that a Ursa Major would be afraid of. Using her kukri Aria slid between the Grimms legs and cut across the back of its knees forcing it to fall. Aiding her I ran toward the Grimm with my falchion ready to slice it in two. The Grimm sat up on its knees as I swung my blade into its shoulder. Pulling the blade free the wound left was six inches deep leaving the arm barely attached to its torso.

The proud feeling of landing such a devastating blow did not last as the Grimm stood. With panic in my voice I shouted at Aria "How is it doing that your attack should have crippled it." The open wound on the shoulder started to mend itself as black liquid bubbled out from the wound then hardened into sleek black skin once again. "Shit it can regenerate." aria spoke then turned to me. "We need to hit it with everything we have so it can't regenerate." Nodding in response I waited for Aria to make the first move.

Running behind Aria we rushed the regenerator using a strategy we had been practicing. Aria threw her kusarigama at the regenerators legs wrapping them in chains. Pulling on them the Regenerator fell to its back as I vaulted over Aria slamming the blade into its chest. Aria in returned pulled on the chain splitting the regenerator in half from the chest up. Removing the chains from its legs the regenerator rose to its feet already fixing the large wound. Swing my sword like a bat I bisected the regenerator where it was cut in two casing it to fall into three pieces.

Pulling back together the regenerator bashed me with the back of its hand knocking me off my feet. Luckily my Aura had protected me from any damage. "I have one more idea we can use." shouted Aria as she backed up from the Grimm. Using her kusarigama Aria launched the blades at the regenerator. Planting each blade in a shoulder I backed up knowing what she had in mind. Using her semblance Aria sent ice down the chain and onto the Grimm. Quickly the ice spread encasing the regenerator in ice. With a single pull on the chains the blades came free causing the Grimm to shatter into shards of ice.

Returning her weapons back into kukri Aria sheathed them and walked toward. After a deep sigh Aria said "We need to get back and tell everyone what happened. This new type of Grimm is dangerous and what ever it is made out of is unlike anything we have seen or heard of." Nodding my approval of her idea I sheathed my weapons and turned to head back the way we came.

Behind Aria the remains of the Grimm liquefied and gathered forming a puddle of black liquid. moving the liquid sped towards the pool it had come from. "What the hell. Is it still not dead." I said surprisingly. "I don't know but I would rather not stay to find out. Let's go." said Aria as she turned and headed for the landing zone.

Before we could move ten feet a Grimm sprung from the pond. Larger than before the Grimm now stood at eight feet with bulkier muscles and sharper claws. The air around the Grimm shimmered as the ooze hardened into a black armor instead of the skin it had before. Simultaneously we spoke saying "Son of a bitch!."

Pulling are weapons free we once again prepared to kill the Grimm. Before we could move the Grimm slammed into me sending me flying onto my back. Aria moved to attack slicing her blade across its back only for it to skip off. Hunching low the Grimm lunged at me with its claws open and ready to split me in two. Pulling my sword up as quickly as I could I sliced at my oncoming attacker. As my sword made contact the blade snapped as the Grimm once again slammed into me. Expecting to have been sliced in half I quickly got to my feet. My sword may have been broken but it had caused the Grimms attack to fail.

The Grimm did not give me time prepare for its next attack as it sent its claws towards me. Aria was ready as she wrapped the chain of her kusarigama around each of its arms. The Grimm couldn't move as Aria held it in place. Pointing my magnum at its head I began firing. Shot after shot hit cracking the bone mask in between the eyes. This only seemed to piss it off as its eyes turned a darker red. Pulling on the chains the Grimm over powered Aria ripping her off her feet. Using the momentum from being pull Aria ran at the Grimm and planted a kick on its head creating a larger crack in its mask. With even more rage the Grimm pulled on the chains immobilizing it till the chain snapped and fell free. As the Grimm moved toward Aria she used the only weapon she had left her semblance. Sending shards of ice at the Grimm the make shift projectiles began piercing holes in its armor. Sending ice across the ground Aria encased the Grimms feet in ice then continued bombarding it with ice.

With a loud roar the Grimm shattered the ice around its feet. With a single bound the Grimm landed in front of Aria and slammed a fist into her knocking her to the ground. Picking her up by the hair she screamed in pain as she was suspended above the ground looking right into its eyes. Pulling myself off the ground I charged the Grimm with my broken blade hoping to free Aria from its grasp. Not even glancing at me the Grimm slashed at me with its free claw cutting through my aura and my face. Blood poured from the wounds clouding my vision as I looked at the Grimm. As the Grimm pulled a shard of ice from its chest Aria screamed "Boone run you can't fight it. Just Run!" using the shard like a dagger the Grimm thrust it into her abdomen then tossed her at me.

Catching her I cradled her in my arms as blood spilled out of the wound. With tears pouring out of her eyes Aria held up a hand caressing my face. "Boone, I'm so sorry. We never should have come here. Just know that I love you, and that you must leave me and run." As she spoke her last words began to die off. Leaning up she kissed my forehead. Laying still I pulled her body close sobbing into her. "No, No you can't leave me. Your all I have left." tears poured down my face mixing with the blood on my face as they hit the ground. Laying Arias body on the ground I stood and faced the Grimm.

The Grimm looked at me and our eyes met. Feeling the rage burn inside of me I held my shattered blade in my hand. I could feel the air around me burn as my rage flowed freely. Black fire began to flow off my body till it engulfed my entire body. Knowing exactly what it was I moved toward the Grimm. Using the Power of my semblance the broken sword in my hand became engulfed in flame then hardened forming a new black blade to replace the broken one.

Stepping toward the Grim I lifted the sword ready to fight. The Grimm quickly ran toward me swiping its claw at my chest. Sidestepping I dodged the attack parrying with a strike across its back causing a deep gash to from. Not waiting to give the Grimm a chance to attack I sent a downward strike into its arm severing it from the body. With a loud snarl the Grimm lunged and bit down upon my arm. The attack didn't break my Aura and instead the Grimm was burned by the flames. With a single thrust I pierced the Grimms chest. Looking into its eyes I summoned all of my anger and rage into the blade. My anger rose as I remembered the night when my family was killed, the taunts from other kids for spending all my time training and now being left all alone in this world because this Grim killed my only remaining family.

The fire surrounding me grew hotter and darker as it fed off my anger. The light around seemed to be enveloped in the black flame as it expanded. With the blade in the Grimms chest it entire body began to burn. Not turning into ash but being pulled into the fire. The Grimm looked into my eyes as it felt fear for the first time. As the Grimm disintegrated I could feel its life force enter me. It was not a soul but something darker more evil. Soon nothing remained to burn and the fire died off and darkness enveloped my mind as I hit the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

Running through the forest I dodged tree branches in roots as they sprouted from tree and ground trying to stop me as I ran. The sound of Grimm tearing through the forest only encouraging me to move faster. In the distance, a pillar smoke rose from the trees clouding the sky with its black smoke.

Moving faster toward the beacon the Grimm behind me began to get closer hoping to catch their play. Ducking below a branch I took the chance to look behind me. Dozens of red eyes pierced through the forest looking directly at me. Not wanting to have to face these creatures I pushed forward once again.

Breaking through the brush I entered a large grassy clearing with a large tree in the middle. The entire tree was taller than anything I had ever seen. The roots were thicker than a Goliaths tusk and flowed in and out of the ground creating large wooden arches. To the left of the tree, a steep hill sloped down to a ravine with a large river at the bottom that pounded the rocks lying along its border. The rest of the clearing was bordered by the thick foliage of the forest I had just escaped from.

Looking from the treeline red eyes pierced the foliage looking directly at me as I backed up toward the gully placing it at my back. From the trees, a dozen Beowolfs emerged crawling around and over the trees large roots. More Grimm emerged from the trees canopy and descended down its side leaving long deep claw marks.

Understanding what had just happened I had only one reaction. "YOU HAVE TO BE SHITTING ME!" I had led by the Grimm right into their den and they had me surrounded and were going in for the kill.

With my back to the gully, the Beowolfs moved around me preparing to attack. Pulling my sword from its sheath I held the blade with a tight grip ready to fight. The Grimm only came closer as the sight of the blade encouraged them to attack. The blade of the sword extended six inches from the hilt to where it had broken leaving a useless piece of steel. This useless piece of steel would be all I needed to kill the stupid Grimm who had thought it was ok to fuck with me.

Using my semblance I felt the air around me ignite in the all too familiar black flame. Focusing my semblance the flames around me receded and engulfed the sword. The flames began to harden and took the shape of a black steel blade where the broken sword had been. Now armed with a sword capable of bisecting an Ursa I planted my feet in my fighting stance and waited for the Grimm to make their move.

All at once twenty Grimm charged me with razor sharp teeth and claws capable of turning me into a pile of minced meat. In return, I ran toward a Beowolf dodging its attack by rolling between its legs. The Grimm unable to slow down quick enough slammed together creating a large pile with legs and arms sticking out at all angles. Looking at the pile I snickered "Stupid Grimm."

As the Grimm pulled themselves free from the pile I used the distraction as a chance to strike. Running at the first Beowolf to free itself from the pile I slid behind it and drove the blade through its back and out its chest. Pulling the blade free I moved toward my next target. The Beowolf did not wait for me to attack as lunged with its jaws wide open. Sidestepping I dodge the attack and countered by driving the bottom of the hilt into its bone mask crushing its skull in the process. Behind me, a Grimm launched an attack at my back.

Jumping forward I hit the ground and rolled to a stop. Standing I checked to make no damage had been done. Luckily the attack had missed and my Aura had protected me from any damage I might have gotten. Turning to face where I had been before I noticed the Grimm had freed themselves. The Grimm had once again returned to the offensive, in return, I did the same. With my sword at my side, I dodged a flurry of attack and blocked another group with my sword. A Beowolf standing before me attacked downward with its claws. Nocking the block away I sliced the Grimm across the stomach disemboweling it in the process as it crumpled to the ground and began to disintegrate.

With so many Grimm remaining I knew that I would have to up my game or I would end up losing. Once again I focused my semblance this time into my hands and feet igniting them in the black flame. The Grimm, however, didn't stop to admire the show as the continued their attack. The first jumped at me with its claw aimed at my chest only to have it blocked by my sword. Using my left hand I slammed my fist into its face burning a hole straight through its head.

Now that I had the upper hand I decided to take the offensive as I stabbed my sword through a Beowolfs chest and kicked another in the chest. Both were dead before they hit the ground as the flame burned through their bone armor and into their soft flesh. Dodging another claw on my right I dropped to my knee and spun in a circle separating the Beowlfs legs from the rest of its body at the knees. Standing up two Grimm attacked at once on my left and right. The first strike I dodged and parried with an elbow to its side. The second attack was cut short as I used my sword to cleave through its shoulder detaching its arm. The first attacker swung another strike at my head. Ducking below it I thrust my blade upward through its jaw like a shish kebab.

With only a handful of Grimm remaining, I felt confident in what the result of the battle would be as I began walking toward the Grimm. Behind me, with a loud crash, something fell from the tree. As I turned around I shouted, "What now!" Standing before me was a large Beowolf standing at ten feet tall it dwarfed all the others I had fought up until now. Thinking to myself "Why does it have to be an alpha?"

Looking right at me the Grimm let out a defiant roar and rushed toward me ready to kill. Rolling to my right I barely evaded the attack. "Damn this guy is fast," I thought as I dodged a barrage of attacks. Blindly I slashed out with my blade. The blade made contact ad in return the alpha lets out a roar in pain. Dashing backward from the alpha I looked to see what damage I had done. Across its thigh was a gash about six inches long and two inches deep.

The wound did nothing to but piss it off as it rushed toward me. Throwing its claws down at me I used an overhead block to stop it. The Alpha pushed against the blade and looked straight at me as it grabbed hold of the blade. With the only choice to let go of the blade or try and break free I decided to hold onto the blade. With a loud roar, it sent a spartan kick right into my chest sending me to the ground.

Standing above me the alpha lifted its large leg over my chest and stomped down toward me in an attempt to squash me like a bug. Rolling to my right I got up onto my knees and stabbed into its calf. Pulling it free I thrust at it again only to have a fist slam into me forcing the air from my lungs. quickly regaining myself I pulled myself from the ground and prepared to go on the defensive.

With my Aura level dropping, I knew that I could handle only so many more hits before it was drained completely. The Alpha took the invitations slashing it claw downward across my chest. Throwing the blade up into the way of the attack. The alpha took the chance to hold me in place and threw a fist into my gut. Holding my ground I waited for the Alpha to throw another attack. The Alpha did precisely this as it threw another punch into my gut. Grabbing the Alpha by its wrist I increased the flames surrounding my hand. The flames melted through the Alphas flesh as it roared in pain. Squeezing harder I felt the fire eat its way through it bone while turning its hand to ash.

With a roar, the Alpha pulled free from my grip and backed away. Looking down at it burnt hand hanging on by the thread of a tendon it snarled in disgust. In a flash, the alpha used its jaws to rip its useless hand from the rest of its arm leaving a burnt stump. With a roar, the Alpha charged toward my left. Unable to see the Alpha thanks to the damage that damn Grimm did to my eye. Turning I tried to spot the Alpha before it could land an attack. I was too slow as the Alpha launched a right hook into my side forcing me to the ground in pain.

The alpha didn't give me the chance to collect myself as it grabbed my throat with its only working claw. Holding me up to its face, it looked right into my eyes and threw me backward. Hitting the ground I began to roll backward. "Oh, shit this isn't good," I thought as I rolled down the hill to the ravine.

Orientating myself I slid down the hill unable to stop as the drop to the ravine came closer. Holding the sword so that it pointed to the ground I thrust it into the soft earth in an attempt to stop my fall. The sword cut through the ground unable to slow me as I slid closer to the drop. Sliding over the edge the ground beneath me disappeared and I began to fall only to be yanked to a stop as the blade caught on the rocks lining the edge of the drop into the ravine.

Dangling above the drop into the ravine I held onto the blade keeping me from falling as the river pounded below me. Pulling my hand up I grabbed hold of the ravines edge and began to pull myself up. As I pulled myself my left hand's grip on the rocks slipped and I was once again left hanging above the ravine. Summoning my strength I grabbed onto the rocks with all my might. Suddenly a pain in my left hand ignited as a large foot came down upon it.

Standing above me the Alpha glared into my eyes and ground its foot into my hand forcing me to let go of the edge. Using its other foot it began pushing on my hand holding the blade. Even as the Alpha pushed harder I tightened my grip as I bones break in my hand. Reaching to my boot I pulled a blade from a sheath hidden within. Lunging upward I stabbed the blade into the back of the alphas heel severing the muscle. Unable to support its own weight the alpha collapsed forward falling straight into the ravine. As it fell it reached out with one of its claws leaving three long claw marks on my back.

Pulling myself over the top of the hill I entered the clearing tired and worn out as my aura failed and the black blade dissipated. Standing I held the blade I had used to defeat in my hand. Looking at the kukri it brought back the painful memories of Aria that I had tried to forget for so long. Placing the blade back into the sheath in my boot I began walking toward the column of smoke in the distance.

From the tree, the remaining Beowolfs fell to the ground each landing with a loud thud that created cracks in the dirt surrounding them. "Come on haven't you had enough," I said as I flung my hands into the air. Pulling my sword from the sheath I tried to summon any of my Aura left into it knowing the dangers of exhausting my aura reserves. With it almost running on empty I forced my Semblance to activate and the black blade once again took shape.

The five remaining Grimm took to the offensive as the barreled toward me filled with rage. Holding my blade in front of me I blocked the first attack and sent a weak kick into its side doing nothing but piss it off even more. Dodging another attack from behind me by ducking under it I spun and thrust the blade into its thigh. As I tried to pull the blade free the Beowolf backhanded me with its paw sending me sprawling to the ground. Unable to hold onto the blade as I was hit it the blade returned to its broken form and fell free.

Dragging myself off the ground I use the last of my Aura to ignite myself in the dark flames. Without any Aura left for my semblance use, I felt it start to burn me as it used my life force as a source of power. The burns began at the tips of my finger and began to spread as it burned my hand black.

Knowing I had limited time before my life force was drained I attacked to closest Beowulf with a kick to its side plowing through its abdomen. Pulling back from the corpse I back stepped away from a claw swipe and retaliated with a haymaker to its bone mask shattering it into tiny shards as my fist made contact.

As I pulled my hand from the mask the burnt flesh on my hand started to crumble as it turned. Knowing I had less than a minute before I lost my hand I looked for the next Grimm to fight.

The Grimm didn't wait for me to attack as it was upon me sending both claws down upon me slamming into the ground as I rolled to my left and turned and stomped my foot down the back of its knee pinned it to the ground. Grabbing it by the head I used the flames on my hand to burn the Grimms head till it hit the ground as a corpse.

As I moved away from the corpse I turned toward the last two Beowolfs as the attacked both at once. Going on the defensive I evaded the first attack and returned y throwing a punch at the Grimms skull. Missing the Attack the Grimm to the chance to bite down on my shoulder sending a roar of pain through my body.

Held in place by the jaws clamped around my shoulders I felt the blood drain from my body and the flames began to wane as the jaws clamped harder on my shoulder. Summoning the flames to my fist I slammed it into the chest of the beowulf pushing against its bone plate armor.

Biting harder the Grimm began to sever my arm from my body as it bit through the muscles and tendons. Pushing my fist harder against its chest I felt it begin to melt the bone and push into its chest. As my fist pushed deeper into its chest the jaws around my shoulder began to loosen till I was released and hit the ground with a thud.

Unable to keep the flame burning it dissipated leaving me defenseless as the final Grimm stood above me. Staring down at me the Beowolf snarled and held its foot above me preparing to crush me. Unable to move I pulled the kukri from the sheath in my boot. Holding it in my hand I gripped it and looked up at the Grimm staring back into its blood red eyes.

As the Grimm slammed its foot down I closed my eyes in wait for the end. The end never came as I waited for the Grimm to kill me. Opening my eyes I looked up at the Grimm standing above me. The Grimm stood and looked back this time its eyes were cold and unmoving as it began to disintegrate.

In its chest were three large gunshot wounds and another right between its eyes. Slumping to the ground the Grimm laid motionless. Rising from the ground I gripped the kukri tighter holding myself up with all the strength I could muster. Turning I looked at the tree line where the bullets had come from.

From the tree line, soldiers emerged clad in full body armor with a high-powered rifle in hand. One of the soldiers began to shout commands at the others who began to set a perimeter around the edge of the clearing. From a tree, a man dropped with a large rifle in hand. With a single motion, the rifle formed into a large battle axe. Walking toward a disintegrating Grimm the man picked up my broken sword and began to move toward me.

"Kid what the hell are you doing out here." looking at him I tried to speak but had no strength to. As I began to fall all I could think about was how long it had been since I had seen living people. As I fell I was caught by the man who began to yell something as I passed out.

Running up to the man a soldier shouted "Captain Kane what are our orders. Sir" "Holding the boy in his arms Kane turned toward the tree line they had just emerged from. "Call in the bullhead we need to get this boy back to the hospital in Vale."

Laying Boone on a bench in the bullhead the field medic began working to stabilize him. After stopping the bleeding the medic applied an I.V. to help restore Boone's Arua.

Walking to Kane the medic told him "I've stabilized him and as long as we make it to the hospital he should make it. However, this kid has some been exposed out here for a while." Kane looked turned to face the medic . "How long has he been in the woods." "by the looks of the wounds and how they have healed, I would a more than two years. But what is the most curious thing is the burns to his hands they aren't caused by Grimm but something else." Kane sat down on a bench and sighed "Ozpin is gonna have some fun with this kid."


	3. Chapter 3

A sharp pain filled my body as I dragged myself up from the bed and looked around the room I had awoken in. The room was painted bright white with walls about twenty feet long and wide. On the right wall, a large one-way mirror sat extending the length of the wall. Surrounding the bed was an array of medical equipment and machines making various noises. An I.V. bag hung from a pole and ran into my arm as the liquid flowed through it.

Grabbing hold of the needle in my arm I pulled it free and threw it to the ground. Walking to the other side of the room I grabbed the door handle and pulled on it. The door stayed in place even as I pulled as hard as I could.

Throwing a fist into the door the metal bent under the force leaving a large dent. Blood trickled from my knuckles where the skill had been peeled back from hitting the door. Backing up toward the bed I grabbed the I.V. pole and swung it at the mirror on the wall. The pole buckled under the force of it hitting the glass as it left a spiderweb of cracks across the glass. I picked up the pole and swung once again at the glass with full force.

Behind me, the door swung open and a man with silver hair and glasses walked in leaning on a cane. "I don't believe that is necessary" Turning to the man I looked right through his glasses and into his eyes holding the pole in between us. "Who the hell are you and where am I." The man walked over to the bed and sat down on its end as if this was something he did on a daily basis. "Boone, you are in quite the predicament at this very moment." Gripping the pole tighter I backed toward the door. "How the hell do you know my name." The man looked at me unmoving as I threatened him with the pole in my hands.

"You were brought in a week ago by a hunter who found you in a Beowolves den. Injured and in critical condition we saved you life. So please put down the pole." Trying to understand what the man had just said I reached back toward the door and pulled it open.

"When they brought you in I took the chance to look at the items you had. One thing caught my eye. Pulling out Aria's kukri he held it out and began to examine it. "I knew of the only person with such a weapon yet she has been gone for quite some time." Grabbing at the blade I couldn't stop as I felt rage flow through my body. "That is not your it's mine" In a flash, I was laying on the bed and the man was in the doorway. "If you want answers and this back then come take a walk with me after you've become more presentable." The man waved the blade at me then walked out the door.

On the bed where the man had been sitting was a set of sweatpants and a white shirt. Pulling them on as quickly as possible I ran toward the door almost pulling it off its hinges. Running down the hallway after the man I quickly caught up and fell into pace next to him.

"Gimme it back." The man continued walking down the hallway not paying attention as I held my hand out. "It was quite the surprise when I heard that a young man had been found alive fifty miles from any Vales walls. Can you possibly tell me why you were out there?" The question had asked forced me to remember what had happened to me over the past three years. "Surviving!"

Stopping the man turned looking right into my eyes for the first time. "No that is what you did. I want to know why you were there?" turning away he continued walking down the hallway. "I was left out there after my first mission with my teacher." The man turned stopped once again this time in front of a set of double doors and held Aria's blade out to me. "I know exactly who you are and what has happened to you. That is not why you were brought here." Taking the blade I gripped it tight to my body. "You were brought here because you showed exceptional talent as a hunter." The man turned and opened the doors as light flooded the hallway.

Blinded by the flash I covered my eyes and waited for my eyes to adjust to the light. After a couple of seconds, my eyes adjust to the light and I could see clearly. Behind me was the building I had just come from and in front was a large courtyard.

The courtyard was large split in half by a walkway leading from a landing zone to a massive building. In front of the building the walkway became a giant circle with a fountain in the middle. Surrounding the fountain area were two sets of pillars split by a small stream as they surrounded the courtyard.

The man stood to my left as I took in the view I was witnessing. The man broke the silence as he began to walk toward the large building. "This is beacon academy. Here we train future Hunters and Huntresses who will fight the evil in this world so that one day we may leave beyond are walled cities we have sealed ourselves inside of." Unable to respond I stood blankly at the man. "I am Professor Ozpin the headmaster of this school. I brought you here in hopes to enroll yo in this schools and to continue the training Aria had given you"

The mention of her name upset me as the memories of her death flooded my mind. "And if I say no to this proposal what then." Ozpin held his hand out to the landing zone. "You are not a prisoner Boone, You may leave if you want. I only want you to know this. Aria was one of my best students I ever taught. When she told me she had taken you in as her own I couldn't have been prouder." Hearing this made me take a few steps back in surprise. "Her death has affected many of us rather than just yourself."

Ozpin walked through the courtyard with my half a step behind as I followed him. "Now is the time to choose to follow the path Aria had intended for you or to disappear into society." Gripping the blade I looked straight into the man's silver eyes. "What do I have to do." Ozpin pulled a small piece of metal out of his pocket and handed it to me. "This is your scroll it holds all your information including access to your room and the rest of the campus. Initiation is in four days and the other students will arrive the day before."

What am I supposed for the next four days?" "Since you no longer have a usable weapon of your own I have taken to signing out one of the workshops to you for the next few days. Take this time to create your own weapon of choice." Ozpin quickly walked off leaving me to stand alone in the courtyard.

I pulled out the device Ozpin had given me. It was about three inches long and an inch thick with a line running through its width. Pull on each side they slide apart till the scroll was about six inches long. The screen turned on displaying "Hello William Boone." The screen continued to what seemed to be a home screen. "Ok, how the hell do I work this damn thing." The scroll responded almost immediately as it asked if I wanted to run a tutorial.

Ten minutes later I had figured out how to work the scroll and began to make my way to my room. Sticking to the shadows a moved down the hallway trying to avoid everyone I came across. Standing in front of a door displaying my name I pulled on the handle to find it locked. "What the hell! How am I supposed to get in without a key." With that, the scroll lit up displaying another message. "The scroll is also an electronic key to rooms you have access to." Placing the scroll on a pad above the door it lit up green and unlocked.

Pulling the door open I walked into the room closing the door behind me. The room was of average size about fifteen long and twenty feet wide. On the right wall was a door leading to a bathroom with a shower. In left corner was a plain wooden desk with a lamp on top. In the middle of the room was a twin bed with a large cardboard box sitting on top.

Pulling the box open I began to go through its content. The first thing inside the box was a uniform that I quickly pitched away. "Nope, not gonna wear that." Continuing through the box I pulled out a bag containing bathroom necessities including a razor. "Maybe I needed to shave. Not having mirrors in the forest doesn't help."

Placing the bag to the side I continued through the box. Pulling another set of clothes out I placed them next to bag for later use. The last thing I pulled out of the box was a metal lockbox with a key taped to the top. Placing the key in the box I pulled it open and looked at the content inside.

Slamming the lid shut I locked the box and slid it under the bed. Tears slid down my face as I thought of what was in the box.

After taking a few minutes to calm down I Scooped up the clothes and bag I made my way to the bathroom.

Standing in front of the mirror I examined myself for the first time in three years. The first thing I looked at was my hair. It had grown to reach the bottom of my back and its color was darker due to the amount of dirt it still had in it. Next, I moved to my face looking at the large three claw marks running across the left side of my face. My left eye had taken damage from the attack to my face leaving me blind. The difference was it was not the usual milky white color of a blind eye but a piercing red.

Moving to the rest of the face I pulled the razor from the bag and went to work clearing the patchy beard on my face. After a few minute, I admired the job I had done and moved to the shower. Scrubbing the dirt from my hair took longer since they had removed most of the dirt from my body while I was in the hospital.

After some time I felt that I had removed all the dirt from my body and proceeded out of the shower. The next thing I did was fix the rat nest on my head. Pulling a large comb from the bag I began running it through my hair I pulled knot after knot free till my hair had returned to a cleaned state. Next, I grabbed scissors and began to trim my hair till it was in a manageable that I could work with. Finally, I pulled a hair tie from the bag as I weaved my hair into a braid and used the tie to hold it in place.

Happy that I know looked human I looked at the clothes that had been left for me In the box. The first was a pair of black cargo pants that I quickly pulled on admiring how well they fit. Next, I pulled on a plain gray t-shirt from that laid tight across my body but stretched so that it was still comfortable. The last piece of clothing was a black racer jacket with extra padding on it. Feeling ready I pulled my scroll out of my pocket and made my way toward the workshop Ozpin had mentioned.


	4. Chapter 4

I stood before a large building with the sound of metal clanking as it echoed through the building. I pulled the door open and made my way to the room my scroll said Ozpin had rented out for me. I entered the room and inside I found a mass of machine and materials waiting for me to use. Having been taught by Aria I knew exactly how to use all the machines that surrounded me. Looking through the materials I knew exactly what I was going to build. Pulling a piece of paper from the table I began scribbling down the design then took to work.

The hours passed as I forged my creation till soon enough it began to take shape. A sudden knock on the door startled me causing me to jump from my seat and reach for the hammer next to me. My semblance activated instantly and the hammer was quickly engulfed in flame.

The door swung open and a familiar man entered the room. "Ah, Boone I didn't expect you to still be in the workshop. You should rest or else you'll have no energy for tomorrow's initiation." I stared at Ozpin in shock "What do you mean tomorrow! I've only been here for a few hours" I laid the hammer down and turned my semblance off. "On the contrary, you have been here for quite some time. Close to three days." Looking around me I tried to remember how much I had done.

On the table laid my newly crafted weapons and armor. Ozpin peered at my creations and a small smile appeared on his face. "These are fine pieces of equipment you have made. May I ask how you completed them so quickly?" I stared back at the man and began to fine tune the weapons. "I began making these years ago with Aria. I just needed to remember where I had left off" Ozpin left the room as I picked up my weapons and gear into a bag so I could take it back to my room.

Ozpin entered the room with a bag in his hand. "Tomorrow is a big day and you haven't eaten since you got here." Ozpin placed the bag onto the workbench and moved toward the door "Initiation starts at ten a.m. tomorrow please rest up before then." Ozpin left leaving me alone in the workshop pulling my bag of gear over my shoulder I grabbed the food and made my way toward my room.

Pulling the door open I laid my gear out for tomorrow and proceeded to pull the food out of the bag and began to eat my fill. After filling myself with the first real meal in three years I felt the three days of no sleep catch up to me. Slowly my eyes fell shut and sleep claimed me.

Sweat poured from my face as I looked at my scroll as it displayed the time. The scroll showed the time to be four a.m. Pulling myself from the bed I tried to forget the nightmare I had experienced. Heading toward the bathroom I began my preparation for the day.

Pulling my gear on I followed the directions the scroll gave me to the initiation Ozpin kept mentioning. Keeping to the shadows I avoided small groups of people wandering around. Slipping past a group of overly loud females I walked down a past leading to a cliff where a group of students waited at its edge.

Slinking to the back of the group I examined the crowd looking to see which individuals seemed to stick out. Of the large group, there was a handful who caught my eye. The first being a pair of girls chatting as if they had known each other for years. The first girl was tall with a long golden mane of hair. She seemed to be the most confident of the two as she had no hint of fear as she talked. The girl next to her was much shorter with covering herself with a red cloak as the blonde continued to talk nonstop.

The others who stuck out didn't talk much other than some black haired guy being bombarded by a redhead bouncing around as gave very little notice to her. To my left, some a blonde guy was talking to a redhead clad in a set of greek armor. The girl seemed entertained by the boy as she chuckled at his jokes.

The person who interested the most was a female standing in the back of the crowd checking out the crowd just as I was. Her black hair flowed down her back with a bow placed neatly on top. Looking into her eyes they a light amber color as the light reflect off them. As soon as I had looked at her she began moving through the crowd till she ended up on the opposite side. This girl peeked in interest in me as I instantly recognized the secret she was trying to hide.

Before I could make my way over Ozpin emerged with a blonde haired woman to his left. "This Is the most important day of the rest of your life. Today you will learn who you will spend the next four years with. Professor Goodwitch here will explain." Wth that the woman stepped forward and began to explain. "You will be entering the forest where your objective will be to collect a relic from the ruins of a temple. Please remember the Emerald Forest is filled with Grimm. The forest will test your skills as hunters and huntresses."

With that, the woman stepped back and Ozpin spoke. "One more important thing. The first person you make eye contact with will be your partner. With that please take your places on the platforms."

Everyone proceeded to metal platforms lining the cliff edge many taking a stance preparing for what was coming. Ozpin made his way down the line till he stopped in front of me. "That is quite an interesting set of armor you are wearing Boone. It fits you quite well." with that Ozpin continued walking down the line.

What he said was true the armor I wore was much different from everyone else's in the group. Most wore armor made up of a metal chest piece gauntlets and grieves. I, however, had gone a completely different route. Over the past three days, I had crafted a full set of reinforced plastic body armor. Over top that I wore a tan trench coat that I had lined with leather to make stronger. What tied it all together was the helmet I had crafted. The mask had taken me the longest to craft other than my weapons. It was shaped like a skull fitting my head perfectly. Inside I had hooked up a hud system displaying an ammo count and Aurameter. The best part was on the neckline was a button that allowed the helmet to slide back and fold down into the collar of my armor

After finishing his walk down the line Ozpin looked at Professor Goodwitch and nodded. The Professor proceeded to hit a button on her scroll and soon the platforms began to launch everyone into the air. At the end, the blonde hair boy began to freak out as he figured out what was going on.

Feeling the platform on me buck forward I found myself sailing above the forest toward the tops. Adjusting my position in the air I slowed my descent and prepared to land. Reaching to my wrist I pushed a button on the metal gauntlets I wore and the gauntlet extended to cover my hand. Flying toward a large tree I reached out with my hands as they slammed into the wood.

The gauntlets slammed into the wood halting my descent toward the ground. Let go of the branch I fell toward the ground stopping myself every few feet with a branch till I had landed on the ground safely without any injuries.

With a quick check of my gauntlets, I made sure they weren't broken or damaged. Happy with how well my handiwork had held up I began making my way toward the ruins using the map displayed on my hub.

Halting for a break I checked my surrounding for any sign of Grimm. Above me, the tree above me rustled and I jumped back expecting a Grimm to appear. Instead I girl emerged from the tree holding a sword in her hand. The girl was none other than the black haired girl I had seen earlier in the crowd.

Pointing the tip of the sword at my chest The girl stared me down with an intense look in her eye. "Why and how are you following?" Surprised by what the girl said I took a step back only to have her shove the sword up to my neck. "Who are you?" Not taking the time to answer the question I knocked her sword away Then grabbed hold of her as she was surprised by my sudden movements. Holding her in place I reached up toward my helmet and clicked the button the caused it to retract.

Revealing my face I looked into the girl's eyes. "My name is William Boone and I'm your new partner!" Letting go of her I turned and picked her sword up from the ground. "If you would like to know I had no idea I was following you. I was just following the map on my hud." Holding out the weapon to the girl she nodded and took it from me. With a sigh, the girl slammed it into her sheath then stuck out. "My names Blake Belladonna. I'm sorry I tried to kill you." I took her hand I shook it. "No, its ok I would have done the same if I thought someone was following me."

With introduction over I activated my helmet and began to make my way toward the ruins. "Follow me the ruins are this way." As I said this A group of red eyes appeared in the bushes surrounding us. Blake immediately pulled her sword out holding the sword in one hand and the sheath in the other.

Activating a button in my gauntlet my weapon began to take shape as it began to move. Out of the side, a large curved blade extended from each side of the gauntlet stopping when it had reached out about two feet. On the back of the blade, a barrel poked out the back. The blades rotated on the gauntlet and the blade faced backward while the barrel was pointing forward. Pulling a clip from my coat and slammed the magazine into a slot with a click my weapon signified it was ready to go.

From the trees, a group of Ursa took their position around Blake and I. Looking at her she nodded and we immediately took action. Pointing my weapon at the closest Ursa a let loose a torrent of armor piercing round. The Ursa's armor held against the bullets doing almost no damage. Blake had dashed into the group of Ursa slicing at them with amazing speed.

Deciding to switch up the fight I rotated the blade around and dashed toward the Ursa I had been shooting at. Rolling under it arm as it swung at we I cut it along the back of its knee cutting straight through its armor. The Ursa roared in pain and swiped at me with its paws. Dodging the attack with ease I jumped onto its back and slammed one of the blades into its spine. The Ursa slumped down to the ground as I jumped off its back.

Blake had taken out two of the Ursa by the time I made it over to where she was. With only one Ursa remaining we charged sending a barrage of stabs and slashes at the Grimm. The Ursa dove at us with its arms wide open trying to give us a bear hug. Rolling under the paw I slammed the blade into the Ursa side. Blake did not fair as well when she tried to dodge the Ursa. The attack had hit her foot as she jumped over it causing her to slam into the ground. The Ursa pounced at Blake with it jaws wide pulling me along as with it.

Activating my semblance I sent a spout of black fire along the blade in its side. The fire burned straight through its chest leaving a large hole in its side. The Ursa hit the ground and slid to a stop a foot away from where blake laid. Pulling the blade free I allowed them to retract as I held out a hand. She immediately accepted the gesture and rose to the ground placing her weapon onto her back. Without a word we simply nodded at each other and returned on our way to the temple.

After walking for some time Blake and I emerged from the forest and in front of laid the temple or what was left of it. The temple was very small the floor was a small circle engraved with a pattern. Surrounding the perimeter of the floor pillars stood connected to what was left of what could have been a ceiling. On one side about a third of the wall remained to leave the rest open to the forces of nature. From the floor, there was a group of pedestals set in a large arc. On a hand full of pedestals where chest pieces of various colors.

Blake was the first to break the silence as she spoke "Chest Pieces?" Picking up a white knight I held it out to her. "These must be the relics we're supposed to collect. How does a white knight sound." As I held it out to her she walked over and grabbed it from my hand "Sure, why not." Blake threw the piece back at me. Snatching it out of the air I placed the chess piece in one of the pockets lining my coat.

As I walked toward Blake a loud piercing shriek came from the forest. The first thing I thought was some girl is in danger but this thought was quickly replaced. I looked over at Blake who had her head cocked looking up at the sky. A yellow and red dot flew down toward us as A nevermore flew overhead. "Are those two girls falling toward us" Blake looked at me and nodded. What the hell else could happen?

Speaking too soon an Ursa came bounding out of the forest skidding to a stop. A redhead with short hair jumped off the Ursa and kicked it. "Ah, it's broken" The girl held a large war hammer in her hand and proceeded to dash toward the temple. Picking up a white rook the girl danced around singing "I'm queen of the castle." From the Ursa, a male with long black hair with a single pink strand running through it stumbled over the beast back and hit the ground. "Nora, can we never do that again. Ever!"

Taken back their Arrival it wouldn't last as the two girl land on the ground with a loud thud. They both stood up and began to dust themselves off. The black and redheaded girl in the red cloak was the first to speak as we stared at them in silence. "I told you my idea would work Yang."

I looked at blake who gave me a shrug and we proceeded to walk over to the four newcomers. The girl in the red cloak kicked off the conversation immediately before anyone else could speak. "Hi. My name is Ruby Rose and that blonde bimbo over there is my sister Yang." The energetic redhead decided to take this as her chance as she began to spout nonsense. From what we got her name was Nora Valkyrie and the guy was Lie Ren.

I took the chance to reveal my face as my helmet turned into its compact form. "My name is William Boone. And this is Blake Belladonna." I stuck out my hand toward Ruby who immediately shook it." "Nice to meet you William, but we met Blake last night." I looked at Blake who only gave me a shrug. "Nice to meet you too and if you don't mind I like to go by Boone." Ruby nodded and a large grin appeared on her face.

From the forest the sound of trees crashing to the ground all made us turn and pull are weapons out. From the treeline, a redhead girl in bronze armor came speeding out as she shot at something in the forest with a rifle. Ruby Immediately lit as she saw the girl. "Hi, Pyrrha." Without hesitation, the girl looked at Ruby and smiled. "Hello again." Not a second later a deathstalker broke through the treeline with a loud shriek. Hanging onto was a boy. Pyrah went back to shooting at the creature as the boy held on for dear life. "Hold on Jaune we're coming."

Activating my gauntlet the blades shot out and locked into place. Behind me, everyone else prepared to fight as Jaune lost his grip and was launched into the air where he then landed next to us with a groan. "Great! The gang's all here! Now we can all die together." All eyes fell onto Yang as she stood with the mightiest of grins on her face.

Above us, a loud shriek echoed as a nevermore flew above. Now to giant Grimm stood in our path. "You have to be fucking kidding" Without a second's hesitation Ruby spoke. "Swear." "Wait what?" She looked dead into my eyes with her silver eyes. "You swore and that's not ok." Not knowing how to respond I shook my head and activated my helmet. "Ok let's do this."


	5. Chapter 5

The second I had said, "Let's do this." Ruby bolted at the Deathstalker swinging her scythe into the air. Before she could land a blow from above the Nevermore screeched and sent a barrage of feathers at Ruby. The feathers landed all around her till one hit it mark. Piercing the cloak she wore Ruby was slammed to the ground as the feather pinned to it. The Deathstalker crawled its way in front of her lifting its stinger up above her ready to strike.

In a split second, the stinger shot forward at Ruby heading straight for her chest. Immediately a wall of black steel emerged from the ground right in front of Ruby. The stinger slammed into the metal holding the Deathstalker in place. Ruby took the chance to free herself and rejoin the group.

Yang immediately Ruby in a huge hug as she rejoined the group. "Never do something that stupid again. What were you thinking." Ruby looked at her sister with a sad look spreading over her face. "I just wanted to show that I belong here and I'm not some dumb kid who snuck in a few years early." We all stared at the ruby most with an expression of surprise at what she had just said.

I took the chance to break the silence. "You have nothing to prove to any of us. Only what you need to prove to yourself." Ruby's face lit up and she seemed to stand taller as I spoke. Behind us, the Deathstalker began to break through the wall as it weakened under the stress. Ruby collapsed her scythe and walked over to a pedestal and grabbed a white knight. "Our objective is right here in front of us we don't need to fight." Jaune took the chance to grab a white rook. "Run and live- that's an idea I can get behind."

At the very moment, Jaune finished speaking the Deathstalker broke free and the Nevermore circling above screeched in response. Ren pulled held his SMG's in his hand and began to run toward the cliff. "I think it's time we left." Following in pursuit, we all made a break toward the cliff line as the Deathstalker ran toward us with a killer intent.

After a few minutes of running, we emerged in front of the cliff side where a large ravine separated us and it. In the middle of the ravine, a small bridge extended to the ruins of a large tower and the other side of the ravine.

Above us, the Nevermore flew stalking us like prey. The Deathstalker burst from the forest as it shattered a tree with its claw. Turning toward the cliff we ran across the bridge as Pyrrha and Ren gave us covering fire. The Nevermore flew low over the ravine and slammed into the bridge leaving us separated in two group.

Ren, Pyrrha, and Blake were left to fight the fight the deathstalker as Jaune, Nora, Ruby, Yang and I had the Nevermore to deal with.

Jaune pulled his sword free from the scabbard and transformed it into a shield on his left arm. "Man, we gotta get over there. They need help. But I don't think I can make this jump" Behind Jaune a smile crept across Nora's face as she jumped into the air and slammed the hammer down on the end of the bridge. The bridge immediately became a catapult sending Jaune sailing through the air screaming. "No, no, no no, no." As Nora fell toward the ravine she turned her Warhammer upside down and stood the bottom of its head. Pulling a trigger on its handle the hammer shot through the air as it fires a grenade propelling her forward.

As Nora flew toward the Deathstalker she Pulled the hammer above her head and swung downward. The hammer slammed into the top of the Deathstalker but did nothing to faze it. Shooting its sting at Nora she was forced to leap backward into Blake pushing her into the ravine.

Using her weapon as a whip the blade embedded itself into a stone pillar swinging her around it and into the air. Flying through the air Blake landed on the Nevermore's back and began to run down it slicing along its back with her sword. Once she reached the end she jumped off its back land next to Ruby and I. "This thing is tough than it looks." Blake leaned over as she tried to catch her breathe. "What the hell are we going to do."

Ruby looked at the two of us and up to yang who was on top of the tower firing at the Nevermore. "I have a plan." Ruby looked at Blake who nodded in compliance. "Blake you and Yang need to give us covering fire. Boone I'm going to need you to do what you did earlier to the Deathstalker." I shook my head as she said this. "That was the first time I've ever done that. So it might not happen." Ruby only smiled at me. "I believe in you so believe in yourself."

On the other side, Ren was up against the Deathstalker as he shot round after round at it. The bullet ricocheted off it armor as her fired. Pyrrha and Jaune attacked the Deathstalker together. Pyrrha blocked the Deathstalkers claw as it swung at her with her shield. Using her sword she sliced at its open face glancing across its armor. Swinging its left claw at Pyrrha it was stopped by Jaune and his shield. Seeing an opening Ren shot at the Deathstalkers tail and let out another set of bullets that landed between the stinger and its tail.

The Deathstalker retaliated as it grabbing Ren in its claw. Nora let out a barrage of grenades as Pyrrha transformed her sword into a javelin and hurled it into one of the Deathstalkers eyes. In a split second, Pyrrha retrieved her weapon from the Grimm as It knocked Jaune tow the ground and threw Ren into a nearby wall.

Jaune pulled himself from the ground grunting in pain from being hit by the Deathstalker. The Deathstalker was currently engaged with Pyrrha and Nora who struggled to dodge its attack. What Jaune noticed was the Deathstalkers stinger barely connected to the tail.

"Pyrrha! The tail!" Pyrrha immediately understood what Jaune wanted her to do as she hurled her shield like a discuss. The Shield hit its mark as it sliced through the exposed tissue of the tail severing the stinger. Falling free the stinger implanted itself into the Deathstalkers head going straight through its thick armor. Jaune looked at Nora and shouted "Nora Nail it!" Propelling herself into the air with the hammer. While she flipped through the air she smiled like a child in the world's largest candy shop. "Heads up!" Slamming the hammer into the stinger the force sent it deeper into the Deathstalkers head.

At the edge of the cliff, the Deathstalker laid dead as the ground crumbled from the force of the impact. As the team ran from the cliff side it gave way and began to fall into the ravine. Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha made it clear as the ground collapsed but Jaune stumbled as it fell away. Leaping forward he grabbed hold of the edge of the cliff. "Someone want to help me up?" Immediately Pyrrha pulled Jaune up from the cliff. "Let us not do that again."

At the tower Yang Shot round after round at the Nevermore as it flew past her unscathed by the attacks. Leaping from the tower Yang landed on the nevermore face as it tried to eat her. Prying the mouth open Yang unleashed her fiery rounds into the Nevermore's mouth screaming. "I! Hope! You're! Hungry!" Jumping free from the Nevermore's mouth Yang landed next to the rest of the group as the Nevermore flew into the cliffside and fell to the ground.

Ruby took control as Blake stood next to a pillar and threw the other side of her whip at Yang at another pillar. Ruby stood on the whip creating a makeshift slingshot with her as the projectile. "Boone I need you to do you magic!" Without a response, I summed a black wall the formed around the Nevermore's tail keeping it in place. Pulling Ruby back I released her sending her flying toward the Nevermore.

Ruby flew through the air toward the Grimm with her scythe propelling her forward as she shot of round after round from the high caliber sniper rifle. The momentum wasn't enough to make it to the Nevermore as she began to slow down.

Using my semblance I summoned fire on the bottom of her boots the light up and pushed her forward like a rocket. Ruby flew into the Nevermore hooking her scythe around its neck. Pulling the Grimm behind her Ruby ran up the side of the cliff firing her weapon off as she flew up its side. Summoning the black fire I placed it on the bottom of her boots so that it propelled her upward.

As she reached the top the cliff stuck out creating a ledge. Fire one last shot Ruby reached the cliff top while the Nevermore got stuck on the ledge. The force of Ruby last shot forced the scythe through the Grimm's neck severing its head from its body.

Ruby stood at the edge of the cliff as the Grimm fell into the ravine. We all looked up in shock of what the small girl had just done. Yang face was in the most shock as she realized what her sister had just done. "Well that was a thing!"

Ozpin stood before a large crowd of students and teachers as he announced the teams for the new students. "Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR." The crowd applauded as Nora jumped on top of Ren. "Led by... Jaune Arc!" Jaune stumbled backward as he recognized the words Ozpin had just said. Huh? L-Led by...?" Ozpin smiled at the boy. "Congratulation Young man!" Pyrrha smiled and gave Jaune a friendly bump on the shoulder. Unexpecting this Jaune fell over in shock as he still tried to register what had happened.

"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. William Boone. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!" Yang picked her up in a large bear hug as she squeezed the life out of her. "I'm so proud of you. My little sister is team leader."

Ozpin motioned for Ruby to come over to him. Complying she stood before him. "What do you need Professor Ozpin." The man sighed as he looked around the room at the different groups of people gathered about. "Do happen to know where your teammate Boone is." Her face immediately lost the smile she had on it. "No, I don't. He left right after the initiation and never showed up today." Ozpin looked at Ruby and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I made you team leader because you show skill in both the art of being a huntress and a human being. Many of us have lost this skill as we fight the evils in this world. Boone is one of those and I believe you and your team to be able to bring him back to the light of this world. This is a big task so please do your best." Ruby smile returned to her face as Ozpin told her why she was chosen as team leader. "Thank you, Professor."

Ruby turned and began to make her way to join Blake and Yang when the Professor spoke. "And Ruby I have sent you information on where Boone is right now. Please do find him." ruby nodded and walked away as Ozpin looked over the crowds once again. "It looks like things are shaping up to be a... interesting year."


	6. Chapter 6

**" Sorry I haven't posted in a while but I had surgery done during the holiday. Sadly I got an infection and had to spent an extra two weeks recovering. Luckily I'm ok now and back to writing."**

Ruby made her way across campus toward the room Boone was staying in. She walked up the stairs to the third floor and went down the hallway. She stopped in front of one of the many doors and sighed out a large breath as she grabbed hold of the handle. "Ok, what am I going to say to him" The thought didn't last long as Ruby opened the door to the room.

Inside Boone stood facing away from the door as he stripped his shirt off to change it with a clean one. Ruby's face turned a bright red as she saw all the scars that ran across Boone's body.

The second that the door had opened I activated my weapon and held the blade up to Ruby pressing it against her throat. Ruby only stammered as the blade pushed against her skin. "Boone, It's me Ruby from initiation. Ozpin sent me to check on you." Immediately I pulled away from ruby and deactivated my weapon. "I'm sorry it's been a long time since I've really been around people"

Ruby walked forward into the room and sat down on the bed end and began to kick her legs back and forth as the hung above the ground. "You know you missed the teams being formed. It was really fun." I picked up a clean shirt fro the side of the bed and threw it on while Ruby finished what she was saying. "I don't exactly like crowds they're too big."

Ruby stopped kicking her legs and stood up from the bed and struck a wonder woman pose. "I want to officially take this chance as team leader to tell you that you are now a member of team RWBY." Ruby seemed proud as she spoke and seemed to even puff out her chest a little. "Team ruby seriously. Why did they name it after you." "It's not named after me it's created using each of our first names. Ruby, Blake, William and Yang. Ozpin came up with it."

"Well, congratulations on team leader." Ruby walked toward me and stood and looked up at me. "As team leader, I need to tell you that you need to move your stuff into are dorm before lights out today." My face folded into a frown as I heard those words. "You expect me to live with three girls in a dorm room. I don't think so."

"Oh come on it can't be that bad. Just don't touch Yang's hair stuff and you'll be fine. Plus all Blake does is read." "I still don't like the Idea of it at all." Ruy didn't respond for after a few seconds causing me to turn around to look at her."

Ruby stood by the bed holding a silver locket in her hand and on the bed the metal lockbox laid open. "What do you think you're doing." I grabbed the locket and put it back in the lockbox and slammed it shut. "Never touch that again!" Ruby eyes grew large as tears began to swell from them. "I'm sorry I saw the box open and noticed the locket. I shouldn't have touched without asking!" Tears rolled down her face as she turned her gaze to the floor and pulled her hood up to cover her head.

"It's ok. I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's just this locket is one of the few things I have left of someone very dear to me." Ruby peeked her eyes out from her hood and looked up at me with her silver eyes. "Is that why you have all those scars on your body." The mention of all my scars made me reach up toward my face to the eyepatch that covered my left eye. "I really don't feel like talking about it."

I began to pull the few pieces of clothes out of the nightstand next to the bed and placed them in a cardboard box. "Ruby if you would could you place the lockbox and the rest of the stuff on the nightstand into the box." Ruby pulled the hood from her head and wiped a few tears from her face with her sleeve. "Sure, but why are you putting them in there." I moved into the bathroom and began to collect the items I had left in there. "I need to pack up my stuff if I'm going to move in with you guys." Ruby appeared next to me in a flash of rose petals. "Done" I looked back into the room to see all my stuff was placed neatly in the box. "That was fast." She smiled as I stared awestruck at her. "Speed is kinda my thing."

I scooped up the last of my stuff and threw it in the box. Picking up the bag containing my armor I slung it over my shoulder and picked up the box. "Lead the way." With that Ruby zipped out the door leaving me to catch up to her.

After some time Ruby and I made it to the dorm room and opened the door. "Welcome to team RWBY headquarters." The room was small for four people with little room to spare if any. There were four beds and desks a door on the left well led to a bathroom and in the middle of the far wall was a large window.

"Not much room is there." Ruby smiled at me as blake looked up from the book she was reading on her bed. "It may not be much but we can make it work." "where should I put my stuff." Ruby pointed over at a bed against the wall. "This is your bed you can put your stuff here."

I walked over to the bed and placed the bag and box down then sat on the end. Ruby shot to the middle of the room literally shaking with excitement. "Yang get out here!" The door to the bathroom kicked open and Yang walked out in a set of gray sweatpants and a yellow tank top. "What do you want." Ruby struck her wonder woman pose with a grin. "Now that our entire team is here it's time for introductions."

Blake looked up from her book and scowled at Ruby. Yang broke the tension first. "I think that's a great idea." Blake put her book down and stood up to meet Ruby and Yang in the middle of the room as I followed suit. As team leader, I will go first. My name is Ruby Rose I'm fifteen and this here is my sweet baby Crescent Rose." Ruby extended the scythe and took it into a bear hug as if it was a cute little puppy." "I love weapons, cookies, anything sweet and I really want to become a huntress so that I can be like the heroes in fairy tales. Yang, it's your turn"

Yang activated her gauntlets and slammed her fist together. "My name is Yang Xiao Long, I'm 17 and these beauties are Ember Celica and they are quite smashing wouldn't you say." a groan escaped from all of us as a result of Yang's pun. "I love hitting things, my hair and my little sister Ruby." "Aww thanks Yang. Ok Blake your turn."

Blake walked over to her bed and picked up her sword. "Before I go can I ask how you two are sisters." Yang jumped right into her explanation before Blake could even finish. "Technically ruby is my half sister so I have my dad's last name and Ruby here has her mom's." Blake didn't seem to question them or care to jump deeper into the subject as she let out a sigh. "My name is Blake Belladonna, I'm 17 and my sword's name is Gambol Shroud. I like to read books and that is about it."

"Ok, Boone it's your turn." I took a second to look at the girls as they stared right at me. "My name is William Boone, I think I'm fifteen." Ruby stared up at me with her eyes twinkling. "Go on." I simply stared back at her. "There isn't any more to tell really." Yang held up her hands and shook her head. "Wait wait wait. Hold on first thing What do you mean you think you're fifteen. And what about your weapons and how you got enrolled in here two years early like Ruby. And why you have that eyepatch." The amount of questions Yang threw at me made me think for a second. "Well, my birth record was lost in a fire when I was little so they guessed my age. I don't really have a name for my weapon. Ozpin let me enroll her and I don't really want to talk about why."

The three girls just stared at me as I answered Yang's question. "Well damn son there is a lot of mystery floating around you isn't there." Ruby swung her fist into her sister's arm doing nothing but bounce off. "No swearing Yang you know it's bad." The next thing Ruby did took by surprise as she flashed over to me and began to inspect my gauntlets. "So what can these babies do." She seemed so entranced as she literally looked at every inch of the silver braces.

"Well, they can do a couple things. The first thing they can do is extend over my hands completely." Activating them the metal began to shift forward as it covered my hand turning into gauntlets. Ruby's eyes doubled in size as she let out an"Ooooh." Also, they each have a blade that comes out of the side." Ruby stepped back as the blades shot out slicing through the air. "On the back of the blade is a barrel that shoots 7.62 mm rounds."As I said this the blades rotated so that they faced backward and the barrels faced forward.

Ruby stared as she continued to examine the weapons. "What did you use to make them? How long did it take and how did you make it so that they could collapse so small?" I stared at the small girl as she seemed out of breath after she literally spoke as fast as she could run. "It took me three days to make them. I used dust infused steel and I just designed them so that they could collapse this small." Ruby stopped staring at the weapons and looked up at me. "You need to name them."

"I have no idea what I should call them." The three of them just looked at me as if I was a stupid child. Yang stepped up to give me advice first. "Our weapons are and extension of ourselves so should their names." Ruby nodded in response. "They are designed by us and they are also part of us. We take care of them and in return they do the same." Blake looked at me and smiled. "Choose their name so that it is something that means something other than a name."

"I know what I will calm them." Blake nodded in approval as Ruby and Yang stared dumbfounded by the name. "There name is Life and Death." With that I darted out of the room heading straight for the workshop.

After a few hours, I returned to the room after completing my work. Inside the room, Ruby was on her bed playing a game on her scroll. Yang was at her desk talking to someone on her scroll and Blake was reading a book. Ruby shot up from her bed and stormed up to me. "Where did you go, Boone. You left without saying anything and missed dinner." Both blake and Yang stopped what they were doing as the looked at me.

"I went to the workshop to work on Life and Death." I pulled the braces out of my bag and showed them to my team. "They needed to look the part so I went and fixed the up." The left brace had been colored gold with a calligraphy L on the top. The right brace was black and had a calligraphy D on it. Ruby smiled at me as she looked over the braces. "They certainly look the part but how did you color them so quickly."

"I infused the metal using dust so that the metal changed color and became stronger." Ruby looked at me and began to shake as I told her how I did it. "I never thought of using different colored dust to actually color a weapon rather than just making it stronger. So cool!" Blake got up from her bed and Came over to us. "How about we go to bed early since we start classes tomorrow." Yang sighed at the mention of schools starting and got up from the chair. "Please don't remind me."

Ruby Shot her fist in the air and gave a triumphant war cry. "TEAM RWBY BEDTIME!" Her shout echoed through the dorm as the girls all got into bed and turned the lights off leaving me standing in the dark. Before I got into bed I pulled Aria's kukri out of my boot as I took them off. Getting into bed I gripped the blade and stared at the ceiling. "This is going to be a long night." The thought passed through my mind as sleep never fell over me. Instead, it was kept at bay through fear.

After sitting in bed for a few hours I had enough. I quietly got out of bed and pulled my boots and coat on and walked over to the window. Pushing it open I climbed out onto the ledge and closed the window. Looking up the roof was another floor above but thanks to the age of the building I had plenty of foot and hand holds.

After I pulled myself over the ledge I sat down and dangling my feet off the edge. Spread out in front of my was the entire Beacon courtyard. The moon reflected off the fountains still water creating light that lit up the courtyard. It was a cool summer night and there was a slight breeze rolling through.

A hand reached over the edge of the roof and Blake's bow appeared quickly after as she swiftly pulled herself up onto the roof. "Might I ask why you are up on the roof in the middle of the night all alone." I could only sit and admire Blake as she sat down next to me. She was dressed in her black and white yukata she used as pajamas. "I don't sleep much and outside is much more open than a room."

Blake peered out over the courtyard like was taking in its beauty. "As your partner, you need to trust me. Whatever is part of your past can stay there but don't hide things from us." I let out a sight as the mark hit a soft spot. "I know that I'm not the best person to deal with and that I hide things but I'm not the only one. I have to ask. Why do you hide?" Blake didn't seem fazed as I asked the question even though she knew exactly what I said.

"I don't know what you mean." "Even though the others might not know this but that bow doesn't hide who you are." Blake's hands shot up to her box and checked to make sure it was still there. "Don't worry your secret is safe with me. I really don't care that you're a Faunus. Just please don't ask about my past and I won't ask about yours." Blake nodded accepting the deal as she stood up from where she had been sitting." "Can I ask one thing?"

I Stood up and looked at Blake wondering what she was going to ask. "How did you figure it out?" A wave of relief washed over me as I let out a sigh. "Well, first thing is how you move when you fight, it's very smooth. Almost cat-like. Plus you bow wiggles every so often." A chuckle escaped Blake's lips as her bow wiggled at the mention of it. "Thank you, Boone, For not telling anyone. Some people just don't understand how hard it is to be a Faunus."

I looked at Blake and knew exactly how she felt. "The distance between Faunus and man is very small but people like to hang on to it to the bitter end. I know exactly what it is like ." "How do you know what it's like. You've never had to feel the torture of having people judge you like an animal." Blake's snap at me only made me more resilient in the matter. "I do know because you're not the only one." As I spoke two white cat ears poked out from my hair. "You're not alone." Blake stumbled backward almost falling off the roof as she caught herself.

"Boone, you're a Faunus. How come I couldn't pick up a scent?" I sat back down on the edge of the roof and breathed in the cool air. "I learned to hide many years ago. Having a weak scent in the first place helped so I just went with the flow." "Well thank you for telling me. It makes me feel a little less out of place." Blake began to climb down the wall till only I could only see her head. "I'm going back to bed but please do come down soon you need to sleep." Nodding in response Blake disappeared back down into the room and I returned to my spot sitting on the edge.

After a few hours, The sun began to make its accent as it appeared on the horizon. Climbed down I entered the room and laid down on my bed. Waiting for the others to awaken. "Ok, let's get ready for school." The thought made me cringe as it passed through my head. What the hell will school be like after three years of being absent?


	7. Chapter 7

After sitting in bed for a half an hour Ruby's scroll began to go off with a loud beep. Ruby lept out of her bed and turned the alarm off. "TEAM RWBY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!" Ruby's shout received a groan of protest from Yang."School doesn't start for another three hours why are we up?" Yang lifted her head as her blonde mane cover her head in a mass of tangled hair. I pulled myself from my bed and joined Ruby in the middle of the room.

"There are four of us and one bathroom so we need to be up early if we want to be on time and ready for class," Yang grunted and plopped back down into bed. "Momma needs time to get her beatiful hair ready so I'll go first. Just give me a minute." Ruby chuckled as Yang flipped her hair only adding to the mess. "Ok, I'll go after Yang but first someone needs to wake up Blake." On her bed, Blake was sound asleep under the covers paying no attention to the world around her. "I think she can sleep in a little longer. She probably had a rough night."

Ruby scratched her head trying to understand what I meant. "What do you mean she had a rough night. We all went to bed at the same time." a small laugh escaped me as I looked down at my team leader. "You and Yang are definitely sisters. You could probably sleep through a tornado." Ruby eyes fell toward the ground and a smile appeared on her face. "Don't tell me you actually slept through a tornado?" Jeez, what is up with their family. "It missed our house by a couple hundred feet so it really didn't matter. I could only shake my head at Ruby as Yang snoring could be heard as she fell back to sleep. "Wake up your sister so that the rest of us can get ready. I'll wake up Blake."

Ruby strode over to Yang's bedside and grabbed onto the sheets and pulled them as hard as she could. Yang was dragged away with the sheets spinning like a log then hit the ground with a loud thud. "Great Googly Moogly! What The Fuck!" Yang began throwing wild punches at her sister as she tangled herself up more and more in the sheets. "Yang no swearing. That's bad for you. Now get in the shower." Yang grumbled grabbed her uniform then headed into the bathroom.

I made my way over to Blake's bed where Blake was curled up like a cat under the sheets. Putting my hand on her shoulder I shook it making her wake up. BLake turned and blinked her eyes rapidly as she adjusted to the lights. "Hmph, wha what do you want." Blake just looked up her face showing how sleep drunk she was. "It's time to get ready for school. Yang's in the shower so you should be able to get in when she's done. Oh, and might want to fix your you know." I pointed to the top of my head and flicked up my ears. Blake hands shot up and began to fix her bow.

"Hey, boone what was that?" Ruby was looking at me from across the room with an awestruck face look on her face. "Do do you have ears." I turned toward Ruby and knew I wasn't going to be able to hide it so I decided to pop up my ears. "What you mean these?" Ruby shot across the room tackling me to the ground. I tried to get away as she dragged me to the ground and tangled me up with her legs. "They are so cute." Ruby grabbed hold of my ears and began to pet them.

"How could you hide this from me. They are so cool." As Ruby grabbed my ears I felt my chest begin to tighten up and my skin start to burn. "Ruby please let go." I tried to keep calm but the feelings kept building and I knew I wasn't going to be able to control myself much longer. I shot up from the ground as Ruby let go unable to keep her grasp. "I'm sorry Boone I went too far."

I felt bad as Ruby began to apologize even though it wasn't her fault. "No, Ruby it's ok. I'm just not used to all this. It's been a very long time since I spent time goofing off instead of …." I trailed off remembering that she didn't really know what happened to me. "I just need to work myself up to this. Instead of jumping in headfirst." Ruby got off of the ground and gave me a large smile. "It's ok. Whatever happened it doesn't matter. We are your team and are job is to protect each other."

What Ruby said was right I was no longer stuck in the forest. I was with my team who will protect me and I will do the same. "Thank you, Ruby, for understanding. Next time just ask before you grab them." Ruby's smile got so big she had to close her eyes. "You shouldn't hide them. They make you look really cool. If I was a Faunus I would be proud and show off who I was instead of hiding."

Blake slumped into her bed taking in Ruby's words. I knew they hit a soft spot in her armor. I couldn't force her to tell anyone if I myself hid stuff from them too. After a while, the water in the bathroom shut off and we could hear Yang moving around. Fifteen minutes later Yang basically kicked the door open and walked into the room while she combed her hair.

The second she saw my ears she stopped and a devilish grin crossed her face. "You look **Pur** rfect!" Three sets of hands facepalmed in disbelief of the terrible pun. What? You have to be **kitten** me that was pretty **paw** some."

I couldn't help but look at Ruby trying to form words stunned by Yang. "Does she do this all the time." Ruby nodded and shook her head in disappointment. "If Yang has the opportunity she strikes." Yang smile grew even more. "I can't hold back they flow out of me like water in a river. **Fur** real." Ruby lept into the air and slapped Yang across the back of the head with a slap that resonated through the halls. "No bad Yang that was enough."

"Well I still had a few more but I guess I can save them for later. So Boone why didn't you tell before you were a Faunus." I shrugged trying to think of how to respond. "I've only known you guys for like a day and a half plus it wasn't that important." Yang's mouth gaped open clearly not excepting my response. Blake shot off her bed and into the bathroom. "While you guys talk about this I'm gonna get ready." The door slammed shut and Yang returned her gaze to me.

"You should learn to trust us. We are your teammates." Yang was right I needed to trust these people more but how was I supposed to. I spent the last three years trying to survive a Grimm infested forest that spans the entire top of a continent. Plus these girls knew nothing about me and I knew nothing about them. "I know that as teammates we need to trust each other. However, trust is earned and shouldn't be blindly given." Ruby and Yang both looked as if they understood what I meant but Ruby stepped in where I left off. "You may be right but we are a team and even if it's a small amount of trust right now that is all we need."

The next hour went by without a problem as Blake Yang and I got ready for classes. The girls were dressed in a red plaid skirt a brown jacket with a tan vest. Under the vest they each wore a white dress shirt with a red ribbon around the collar. I was dressed in black combat boots and pants a plain red t-shirt with my biker jacket.

Hey, Boone, you're not in your uniform." I knew Ruby was going to bring this up but I wasn't going to wear a stupid uniform. "Ya, I don't think that will ever happen." Ruby gave me puppy dog eyes that twinkled in the light. "But it's against schools rules." "Still don't care." Yang let a gasp shocked by what I had said. "How did her puppy eyes not work on you. They work on everyone." I looked back at Ruby who was still staring at me. "Ya, I don't know why but it just doesn't do anything."

Ruby gave a defeated sigh and moved her gaze to the rest of the room. "This place is a disaster. There isn't enough room for all our stuff and four beds." Ruby was right there was just too much stuff and not enough room. "If we only had two beds we would have a lot more room." Ruby stared at Blake like she was some type of goddess. "Blake you're right we only need two beds." Yang's hand shot off in the air with lightning speed. "Dibs on sleeping with the cat." Both mine and Blake's face began to turn red causing Yang to have a questioning look on her face. Ruby interrupted before Yang could ask any questions. "That's not what I meant. We should turn our beds into bunk beds."

"That's actually not a bad Idea. We would have room." We all agreed with what Blake had to say. "As a team leader, I saw we put it to a vote all who vote for bunk beds raise your hand." Four hands shot into the air confirming the results. "Ok team RWBY let's get to work."

I don't know what it exactly sounded like to everyone in the halls who walked by our room but I believe I had an Idea. It probably sounded like someone had decided to completely remodel the room and had brought in every possible loud tool and turned them on at the same time.

When we were done we had successfully created "bunk beds". Ruby's bed hung above mine held up by ropes tied to the ceiling. Ruby also decided she wanted to have a fort so she had tied a sheet above her bed and declared it Fort Rose. Yang's bed had been stacked on top of Blake's bed using various books Blake brought with her. "So what happens when you want to read one of those." Blake realized that she wasn't going to be able to read any of the books now that the were left in control of the bunk bed gods.

I turned on my scroll to check how much time we had left before class. "Hey, Ruby what time do classes start again. "Oh at nine we all have Grimm studies with Professor Port." I held up my phone to Ruby and her face instantly shifted to one of pure fear. "It's 8:55. We have 5 minutes to get to class." Ruby began to panic running around the room talking about how we would be late on the first day. "Don't worry Ruby I have a way we can get to class in time. How are you guys at free running." ruby stopped instantly and gave me a puzzling look.

The next thing we knew we were all sprinting across the school's rooftops jumping from building to building and over ledges. Three minutes later we were on top of the building Ports class was in. Ruby ran over to the roof door and began to shake it. "It's locked how are we supposed to get in now?"

"Say do the classrooms have windows." It only took a second before Blake answered my question. "Ya, they are all lecture halls so each has a set of windows." A few seconds later I had a plan and began to direct everyone on what to do. "Ruby text team JNPR and ask them to open one of the windows. Blake, we need to use Gambol Shroud to rappel down to the window." Yang transformed Into its whip form and anchored it to a pipe on the roof then leaped off the side. "Ok, Yang goes next then ruby and finally me."

From inside the classroom, JNPR had opened the window and Blake flew through it as she went down the side of the building. Next came Yang then Ruby. As I was climbing down Gambol Shroud came undone and I began to fall. I reached out my hand and grabbed onto the ledge of the window. A loud gasp escaped from a few people but I wasn't worried. We had only need to rappel down a single story and the drop from the window was only twenty feet. The most it would have done was busted an ankle even that wouldn't be bad because my Aura would heal it in just a few hours.

Tighten my grip on the ledge I pulled myself into the classroom. The entire room of students stared at us as Pyrrha closed the window. "Did we make it." the second I finished Professor Port walked into the classroom. "Ok students please take your seats. Class is about to start." All of us got into our seats and smiled at each other. This might end up being pretty fun.


	8. Chapter 8

I was completely wrong about what I thought the first day. School sucked. Seven hours of lecturing with an hour break for lunch. The only class I enjoyed was combat training with Glynda but that was only when she wasn't yelling at me for something I was doing wrong.

Grimm studies with Professor Port was absolutely useless to me. In the three years, I had been in that forest I learned to fight and evade almost all types of Grimm. The only ones I needed to learn about was some rare or aquatic Grimm.

Professor Oobleck taught Remnant history at the speed of light. Almost every student had trouble trying to keep up with notes as he shot around the room drinking from an endless mug of coffee. I struggled to even understand what he was talking about. Most of the stuff I knew about was from what Aria had taught me. Dr. Oobleck taught a lot about true history not just stories about how Remnant came to be.

Chemistry with Professor Peach was always interesting and dangerous. Every day she had a new thing she wanted to test. Most of these ended up in an explosion or fire. I did learn somethings about dust application so it could have been worse.

Classes had gotten out and I was back at our room working on Life and Death making sure they weren't having any problems. After a few minutes a large gust of wind flew through the room launching papers into the air. The bathroom door slammed shut and I instantly knew who the culprit was.

Yang and Blake entered the room a couple seconds after Ruby both staring at their scrolls. "Whats up with Ruby she flew in here faster than usual." Both of the girls stopped and stared at me as if I had said the dumbest thing in all of history. Blake gave a look as if she was trying to be stupid on purpose while Yang had her mouth hanging open. "Have you even picked up your scroll today. Almost everyone knows about it but you."

Rub shot out of the bathroom dressed in her black and red skirt a black cincher with red strings and a black blouse underneath. She bounced around the room with her cape flowing around behind her. "I'm so excited. I can't believe it's finally time. I've been waiting since initiation." I could only give Ruby puzzled looks as she literally bounced off a wall.

"What are so excited about?" Ruby slammed into a wall and shot back onto her feet giving me a glare similar to both Yang and Blakes. "The annual first-year tournament. How haven't you heard about it."

"I don't know just haven't. So can you just tell me what it is exactly." I couldn't believe how excited Ruby was about the tournament. When I sat she was shaking in happiness I mean it literally.

"It a tournament that starts tomorrow where the top half of our class fights in a one on one single elimination tournament. The semifinals and championship are done in front of the rest of the schools and the top four get a cash prize. I could finally buy those new parts for Crescent Rose."

"Ok so who exactly is in this tournament." Yang beat Ruby to the answer as she started reading off her scroll. "Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, Cardin, Dove, a bunch of other people and all of team RWBY." Yang slammed her fist together causing a shockwave to go through the room. "Team RWBY let's kick some butt." Yang and Ruby lunged into the air and had the mightiest of high fives I had ever seen.

"Ok so we already know who the winner is going to be but what about the runner-up." Yang threw a punch at me that I quickly knocked away. "Does the little kitty cat think no one can beat the invincible girl or are you just afraid." I glared at Yang upset at her calling me a cat. "You now just because I'm a Faunus doesn't mean you need to point it out. Also from what I've learned about Pyrrha she is untouchable when fighting in tournaments. It's as if she controls the flow of the battle and bends it to her will."

The girls stared at me once again with their jaws hanging open. Ruby was the first to remember her jaw was hanging open. "Have you been spying on people in our class. Because that's pretty creepy Boone."

"How else am I supposed to learn about those I'm fighting with and against than to study them. By the way Ruby you need to practice your swing you're putting too much momentum into it instead of power. It's less accurate and you lose all chances to dodge." Ruby jumped into the air and onto my shoulders trying to bring me to the ground. "Why are you so weird Boone? Why couldn't I have just one normal guy to talk to at this school."

I smiled as I picked Ruby off my shoulders and held her in the air by her hood. "In my defence none of us are normal at this school." I put Ruby down and picked Life and Death off the desk and put them on. "How about the rest of you change then we go down to the training hall to practice for tomorrow. I'll meet you guys up on the roof." The three girls nodded and I went out the window and climbed up onto the roof.

Since our first day of schools the rest of team RWBY and I had been using the roofs to travel around beacon. Sometimes team JNPR even joined us. Using the roofs was faster and gave us a good morning workout. Ever since Ozpin gave me a key to the buildings roofs we no longer had to go through windows. So that was a plus.

The next morning we were all in the training room watching Pyrrha knock dove out of the ring and onto his ass. Jeez, that was a brutal fight. Dove couldn't do anything against Pyrrha's attacks and couldn't even come close to landing a blow.

The large board began display names on the screen scrolling through them as they randomly choosing the next two combatants. The screen gave off a loud ding saying it had chosen the first name Nora Valkyrie. The next column began to spin ready to choose who Ren would fight. I leaned over to Blake and whispered. "I feel bad for the poor fool who has to go against her."

The screen made another ding and Blake smiled at me. "Well that poor fool should learn to keep his mouth shut." I looked up at the board saw in big bold letters next to Nora's was my name. "Well shit." A hand leaped out behind me and flicked the back of my head . "Swear." I turned around and found the culprit to be none other than Ruby Rose. "Good luck in your fight Boone. Just watch out for your legs Nora has a thing for breaking them."

I didn't really know if Ruby was telling a joke or was serious. Since we started school Nora has had a thing for wanting to break people's legs so I think she was giving me a warning. "Thanks Ruby. Hopefully I don't get plastered on the wall." Yang was sitting next to Ruby asleep. "I'm surprised Yang isn't awake. I thought she would love to watch people fight."

"Ya well my sister only watches fights worth watching. Dove against Pyrrha is not worth watching but I'll make sure she's up to watch yours." ruby began to shake Yang receiving no response from the girl. This calls for drastic measures. Ruby leaned in next to Yang and whispered. "It would be a shame if something happened to your hair. It truly would be." Yang's eyes shot open and fire began to come off her body. "If you ever touch my hair I will make sure Crescent Rose is reduced to a pile of ash." Tears began to roll down Ruby's face at the thought of a broken Crescent Rose. "Yang that is so mean why would you even say that." I just shook my head as Yang took Ruby in a hug to try and calm her down.

"Well ok then. Wish me luck and hopefully, I don't my legs shattered by Nora." Yang gave me a thumbs up while she cradled Ruby and Blake gave me a nod which for her was more than usual.

I left the rest of my team and made my way to the guy's locker room to get ready for the fight. I pulled all my gear one and made sure my armor was secure. Next, I put on Life and Death and placed a fresh mag into each of them. Over the loudspeaker, Glynda called saying that they were ready for us. I put on my helmet and made sure the HUD was running correctly.

The bottom right corner displayed my Aura level and ammo supply. Sadly I forgot to grab special dust rounds and was left with my usual 7.62 mm rounds. They would hit hard but against Nora's Aura they would do nothing but tickle.

I walked out to the training arena we usually used for duels during combat class. Nora stood on the other side in her casual attire of white collared shirt with a black vest. She wore a bright pink skirt that ended mid thigh. On each hand she had a pink fingerless glove that held her giant hammer slash grenade launcher she called Magnhild.

To say I wasn't scared was a total lie. Here was a girl who could literally go golfing with the head of an Ursa and possibly has. Nora strode right up to the middle of the arena and gave me one of her "I'm gonna hit you with this hammer and your not gonna stop me looks." Before I could prepare at all Glynda hit a buzzer signaling the start of the fight.

Nora literally launched herself at me swing her hammer down at where I had been standing. Luckily I had dodged out of the way and the force of the impact sent me away from Nora giving me the chance to deploy Life and Death. The blades rotated and I took aim at Nora and unloaded a clip from each weapon at Nora.

Most of the rounds missed their mark when Nora spun Magnhild like a baton knocking them out of the way. Those that did hit had zero effect on her and seemed to only make her want to hit me more.

Backing up from Nora I took the only other option other than fighting I knew. "Ok, Nora if you let me win I will buy you all the pancakes that you can eat. How does that sound?"

Nora simply launched a grenade at me forcing me to dodge out of the way. "Sorry but Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren already promised me if I win they would do the same." Letting out another barrage of grenades a I rolled to the side and sprinted at Nora slamming a fist into her side. "Sorry but I did give you a chance."

Nora responded with swing Magnhild into my side and launching me into on of the Arenas pillars cracking it from the sudden force. I hit the ground and sprint at Nora and slid under her swing. I slashed Nora in the back with Death and blocked her next swing with Life.

"Ok as long as I keep her close I have a chance." Luckily my big mouth got the best of me as Nora launched a grenade between us forcing us to separate. "Well shit." Nora launched three grenades at me covering both my left right and middle. With no escape I activated my semblance and summoned a wall in front of me.

The grenades hit the wall and went off causing it to shatter. Jumping over the dissipating remains I closed the distance between Nora and I and summoned a wall behind her. The wall stopped Nora from backing up and forced to get into a close quarter fight. I dodged her first swing but got hit by Magnhild bottom handle as she swung through.

I checked my Aura level and new that I was close to entering the yellow and could only take one or two more big hits before I was done. Nora on the other hand was still in the green and none of my attacks had done any real damage.

"Ok time to change tactics". Once again running at Nora this time I decided to summon a wall to Nora's left. Automatically jumped back away from the wall doing exactly as I had planned. Instead of going for Nora I ran towards the wall running across its side and jumping off it. I spun off the wall and kicked Nora in the side of the head using the power of the momentum I had built up.

The kick sent Nora down to her knees I stood above her and slammed my fist down at her. Nora looked right up at me as she swung her hammer up into my gut sending me into the air. The attack brought my Aura level down into the the yellow as I began to fall back down toward the arena. I summoned a pillar under Nora that shot her up into the air towards me.

Nora wasn't surprised at all as she prepared to end the battle with one single strike.

Nora swung as we came closer only to hit air as I dodged the attack and sliced across her hands forcing her to let go of Magnhild. The weapon dropped to the ground as Nora and I followed suite.

Between us, Magnhild stood stuck in the ground leaving Nora defenseless. Nora took off towards her weapon as I retracted Life and Deaths blades. Summoning wall after wall behind Nora and charged to meet her in the middle.

Luckily I was faster than Nora and met her just as her hand touched Magnhild's handle. Putting all my strength into the punch and slammed it right into Nora's gut. The punch landed sending a shockwave through the entire arena as it sent Nora flying through the walls behind her till she slammed into one of the arena's pillars.

The buzzer sound and Glynda entered the arena using her telekinesis to pull Nora out of the pillar and to repair the damage we had done. Congratulations Boone you have eliminated Miss Valkyrie through Aura depletion you will be going on to the next round." Glynda turned to face Nora as the rest of team JNPR helped her get off the ground.

I took a step so that I could go talk to Nora and make sure she was okay but suddenly I overly joyed teammate slammed into my back and took me to the ground. "Boone, that was so cool how did you do that. I mean Yang has super strength and all but you sent her through I don't know how many walls and….."

Before the little redhead could continue her rant Yang literally ripped her off of me as Blake held out a hand to me. "She's right that was pretty impressive. I didn't know you had it in you." Taking her hand I pulled myself off the ground and took off my helmet letting my hair fall free in its braid. "Ya I just really didn't want to be hit by her hammer again."

Blake let out a chuckle and Yang decided it was her turn for a joke. "Ya, well we can say you "Nailed It" get because you know. Nora uses a hammer." Ruby jumped off the ground and smacked Yang's head. "No bad Yang. What have we told you about puns." Yang retaliated by putting her in a headlock till she said uncle.

"Ok while those to hash it out I'm gonna go see if Nora's ok." Blake looked over to the two sister as they began go at it even more. "I really don't want to get between them for fear of my life. So I'm going with you." I just gave a shrug and together we walked of to where team JNPR had taken a couple of seats in audience.

"Hey, Nora how are you doing." Nora looked up at me with blue eyes as tears welled in them. "I'm okay but, but …" Nora couldn't finish as the tears flowed freely and Pyrrha tried to comfort the girl. "I'm sorry that you lost but how bout this my treat we can all go out for pancakes tonight."

The tears immediately stopped as she jumped from her seat and picked me up in a bear hug and began to thrash me around. "Do you really mean it Boone. Oh this is the happiest day of my life." Nora grip tightened and I gave team JNPR a help me look but the only person who did anything was Ren who gave me a pat on the shoulder "She's your problem know."

I could feel the air being squeezed out of me. Her hug was similar to if a Ursa Major gave you a hug while hyped up on adrenaline. "Please Nora put me down or else I won't be able to buy you them." Immediately Nora let go and I took a second to catch my breath. "Opps sorry i was a little excited."

"That's ok just go a little easy next time." By this point Ruby and Yang had ended their little squabble and had joined us. "So pancakes tonight sounds fun only one problem." I turned to look at Yang who possibly might cause a redhead girl with a giant hammer to go on a rampage. "What's the problem?"

"Well the only place in Vale that serves pancakes got robbed a few days ago and still hasn't open back up yet." Nora's eyes began to fill up with tears once again at the crushing news. "Wait a minute Nora it's gonna be alright. Why don't we just make them ourselves. I mean we have a giant kitchen in the dorm building that no one ever uses. How about it."

Every nodded in agreement. "Ok, that settles it….." Ruby jumped off the ground right up onto my shoulders cutting me off. "TEAM RWBY AND JNPR PANCAKE NIGHT." Ruby dismounted my shoulders and turned toward the two teams "Ok so who knows hot to cook pancakes."

Everyone's eyes darted back in fourth giving the I don't know do you look and Nora began to cry again. Jaune broke the silence and the stares being passed around the group. Seriously there are eight of us and none of us know how to cook pancakes."

"Well, I do know how just it's been awhile." Seven eyes stared at me shocked at what I had just said. Yang cut in saying. "Wait a second, mister I wear terrifying armor and am cover in scars knows how to cook."

"Hey I was taught when I was little and how else was I going to eat without anyone to cook for me."

Three hours later all eight of us sat in the dorm kitchen each with an enormous stack of pancakes in front of each of them. Nora stared at her pancakes with her mouth hanging open while Blake looked around her stack at me. "Boone how many pancakes did you make."

It took me a moment to think but eventually I figured it out. "Well I used six dozen eggs and for six pancakes you need two eggs so like two hundred." All eyes stared at me trying to figure out how why I had cooked so many except for Nora and Ren. "What Ren told me that Nora eats a lot of pancakes so I made a lot."

An hour later we all slumped back in our chairs with our stomachs filled to the brim. We each had eaten our share but Ren was right Nora could a lot of pancakes. Somewhere around a hundred seemed to be where she stopped. "Ok, I call this a successful day".


	9. Chapter 9

Then next day had gone quite smoothly as the tournament continued. Ren, Pyrrha, Team RWBY and I had all made into the next round of the tournament. The only others who made it was Cardin Winchester and some kid I still didn't know. Maybe I should actually try and learn who else is in my class rather than just my team, team JNPR and a group of bullies that had a thing for picking on Faunus.

The matches for the day where decided all at once so that we could get serious about our fights. Ruby and Pyrrha showed up first on the board. Sadly the odds were not in my team's favor. Next were Ren and Blake in a battle of ninja vs ninja. Yang was called next to be called and was put up against that poor kid whose name I still couldn't remember. And Finally I was paired to go up against Cardin luckily I had a bone to pick with him.

The first match between Ruby and Pyrrha actually lasted longer than everyone thought. Ruby had played it smart for once keeping Pyrrha at a distance with her sniper rifle. The sheer power of the impact on Pyrrha's shield Akoúo kept her back and depleted some of her Aura. Sadly for Ruby, Pyrrha closed the distance and ended the match very soon after. Her speed with her sword/rifle/javelin Miló was just too much for her to handle.

Ren and Blake's battle was much more interesting since both were heavily skilled in martial arts. Ren kept shooting round at Blake who was forced to use Gambol Shroud's sheath to block. Blake finally got the upper hand on Ren when she used Gambol Shroud's ribbon to trip Ren and unfortunately for him he wasn't fast enough to repel the attacks and ended up losing.

Yang set a new school record for the quickest knock out when the poor kid she was up against accidently cut a strand of Yang's hair when he shot a crossbow bolt at Yang. Immediately the girl lit up on fire and sent the kid to the across the arena and into the crowd knocking him out in one hit.

Finally I was up against Cardin Winchester the bully who decided it was ok to pick on anyone he thought was below him. This included almost Faunus kids who weren't as strong as he was and Jaune. The poor kid had been teased since day one by Cardin. I decided it was time someone got payback.

Since I had revealed to my team I was a Faunus they basically forced me to let everyone else know. Since then Cardin had decided to take as many pot shots at my heritage when he could. The only time he backed off was when I socked him in the jaw at lunch when he was making fun of a second year girl. She was a rabbit Faunus with two large rabbit ears on her head. When I socked Cardin in the jaw it sent him across the lunchroom and he retreated when everyone laughed at him.

The rest of our team came over and we ended up becoming friends with the girl and her team. Her name was Velvet Scarlatina and she was part of CFVY. Her team joined us and we all became well acquainted and frequently had lunch together.

After that day Cardin kept his distance and that was fine with me., However, I knew he was looking to get some payback and today was that day. We both entered the arena and the buzzer rang to start the match.

Cardin automatically charged swinging his mace at me but came short with every swing. I didn't even extend Life and Death gauntlet forms just kept dodging every swing. Cardin was quickly getting tired of my show and I could see he was becoming angry. "Fight back you little Faunus shit."

To, me this was quite funny since I was maybe an inch shorter or two shorter than him. His moves began to become very dirty as he started going for cheap shots. None of the connected but I knew soon enough one would.

Everyone in the crowd was giving me weird looks as I continued to dodge the attacks. Cardin was moving slower and began to throw insults at me till finally one hit home plate. "So did you get those ears when your dad fucked a cat or when your mom got fucked by one." I stared past him towards Glynda seeing if she was going to do something., Instead she looked at me and gave me a simply nod.

Since I had the go ahead from Glynda I decided it was my turn and turned on the sound amplifier in my helmet. "You know I can't figure out what you have against Faunus or anyone you think is weaker than you. I believe it is time that you learn you're not as strong as you think you are."

I turned my back to Cardin giving him an opening to hit me while I wasn't looking. As he swung at my I side stepped and bashed my elbow into the side of his face. The hit was hard enough that it forced him to the ground. He swung a side swipe at me with his mace trying to kneecap me. I simply stuck my hand out and snatched the mace from his hand and threw it to the side.

"See how it feels to be defenseless for once Cardin because this is how you make people feel." I kicked Cardin in the stomach sending the air straight out of his lungs. I looked up at the board to see just how much Aura Cardin had left. His Aura level had entered the yellow zone and I only had a little bit more I could do before it hit red.

Cardin had taken the chance to grab his mace and used it to put me in a headlock. Sadly his logic was flawed since I was wearing a helmet but none the less he still tried. "Time to end this Cardin."

I lit my hands up with my black flame and grabbed the mace heating it up. Cardinh let out a yelp and let go of the know bright red mace. I took the chance to kick him in the chest he fell to the ground landing on his back . I placed my foot on his chest keeping him on the ground. Every attempt he made to try and free himself was useless since I had completely overpowered him. I grabbed his hands and bent the superheated mace around his gauntlets making a set of hands set as I literally weld them together.

Next I welded his grieves and all the joints in his armor together so he couldn't move or get the armor off. "Know you know how it feels to be powerless." I picked up Card in and chucked him into the stands. "I believe this fight is over."

Glynda stood up from where she was standing with a small grin on her face. "Yes I do believe you are correct. The winner is William Boone congratulations you will be moving on to the semifinals. Also would the rest of team CRDL please take to the workshop and cut him free please."

I didn't wait to watch team CRDL carry Carding off but removed my helmet and looked at the crowd. A lot of people stared at me shocked but what I had done but a large group was cheering for me and what I had done. Most of them where kids bullied by Cardin and I could tell they were overjoyed to see their tormentor finally beaten.

I walked down and decide to join the rest of my team and team JNPR. They all stared at me blankly. Jaune seemed the most shocked at what had happened. "Dude you literally just humiliated and beat up the school's biggest bully and came out unscathed. You're a freaking legend." I smiled at the thought but that was not why I had done it. Cardin need to be put in his place and this was the easiest way to do it.

"That asshole deserved but I still think you should have done more." All seven sets of eyes descended on upon the katana wielding girl in her black and white outfit. We were all shocked at what we heard come out of the girl who never condoned violence and always tried to solve her problems with the least amount of confrontation.

"Wait a second, hold up you actually are glad that a beat up Cardin. You the girl who hates when people fight." Blake immediately understood why we were all giving her weird looks. "Ya I do. He deserved what happened. It was going to catch up to him eventually and today it did."

Suddenly a loud screech cut off our conservation and we all looked to the source of the sound and found Glynda standing in front of a microphone. "The semifinals will be held after lunch today so please make sure to be back or else you will be disqualified." With that Glynda walked away from the microphone leaving us to go back to our conversations."Well on that note how about we head to lunch"

Twenty minutes later we were all sitting at one of the lunch tables enjoying our lunch talking about an array of things. "So I feel bad that you're the only one from our team not in the tournament anymore." Ruby let out a shrug as she swallowed to least of the enormous chocolate chip cookie she was eating. "I mean I was at first but seeing your fight cheered me up. Plus I lost to one of the greatest fighters in the school and possibly the world."

Pyrrha's face blushed at the compliment give to her. "Thank you for that Ruby. I do say Crescent Rose does pack quite the punch. I had a hard time deflecting the shots."

"Crescent Rose is my baby and there isn't one like her. She is one of a kind."

We all chuckled as Ruby began to cradle Crescent Rose in her arms interrupted when Velvet appeared at the table. "Hi guys. Mind if I join you?" Every time Velvet spoke we all almost to be sucked into a trance by her Australian accent.

"Ya, that sounds fine." Velvet sat down next to me and began to pick at the salad she had. "So where's the rest of your team?"

"Oh, they went back to the dorm and said they are gonna eat later since we have the rest of the day off." Velvet stuttered as she continued speaking and her face lit up bright red. "So is true what everyone is saying. That you beat up Cardin Winchester."

"How did you hear about it that was only a half hour ago."News must travel quick because I'm pretty sure Cardin still hasn't been freed yet."

Velvet smiled at the remark and showed me her scroll. "Someone got a video of the fight and posted it. Most of the schools has seen it and are calling you the reaper."

Great now I had a nickname but hey it could be worse. Everyone else at the table pulled out their scrolls and began to look up the video. I continued to watch the video on Velvets scroll till I realized something. "Hey Yang You took this video didn't you."

"Hey why are you accusing me I just sat there and watched the fight." Yang sat there with a grin trying to defend herself but it wasn't going to work.

"Well for one Those are your boots you have kicked up on the seat in front of you and I can hear you laughing in the background." Yang held up her hands in defeat. "You got me copper just please go easy on me." Everyone let out a laugh at the joke finding she did indeed have a sense of humor that didn't only revolve around puns."Ok I think it's time we get going we still have two fights left today."

A half an hour later I stood in the arena across from Blake as we both got ready to fight. This time I wasn't the last to fight but the first. Blake and I had been drawn to face off while Yang and Pyrrha would go toe to toe after us.

The buzzer sound and Blake shot backwards away from me and began to lash at me with Gambol Shroud's kusarigama form. I blocked each attack and returned by shooting a flurry of bullets at Blake. None of them made contact as she danced out of the way and came in to attack me up close.

Since Gambol Shroud's sheath's edge was sharpened like a sword Blake could attack me with two weapons instead of one. I blocked her attacks with Life and Deaths blades and rolled under Blake's next swing and slice her along the back of her knee. At the same time Blake pivoted and caught me across the back with her katana.

This wasn't going to be easy. Every opening each of us got also allowed for a counter attack on the other. I was going to need to up my game if I was going to come out on top. Luckily Blake and I's Aura level was just above yellow and we had done almost the same amount of damage to each other.

I decided to change up my tactic and began to summon walls across the arena. Using the walls as momentum I sent a pillar out of the ground to Blake's right making her dodge to her left. I jumped off the walls and slammed Deaths blade down at Blake only to have it pass straight through her. Damn her shadow clones.

Blake lept over one of the walls and Slashed down at me with Gambol Shroud. I caught the blades with Life and Death putting us ing a weapon lock. Blake smirked and began to push harder luckily I still had a weapon I could use while I had hers locked in place.

A pillar shot from the ground and into Blake launching her to the side. BLake tumbled through the air and landed gracefully on her feet like a cat. Luckily the attack had done some damage and her Aura level was in the yellow.

Blake slid back the slide on Gambol Shroud and shot off a clip at me. Most of the shot missed the mark but one caught me in the camera of my helmet making me blind. I immediately retracted my helmet and was forced to fight without the help of the helmet covering my blindspot. Damn my stupid eye I wish I didn't have to wear this stupid eyepatch.

Blake to her chance know my weakness and began to attack my left side. I was able dodge her attack but sooner or later I was gonna run out of luck. I retreated backwards and made sure I could see Blake. I summoned obstacle in her path forcing her to stay on my right while I show at her. Blake slammed into one of the walls and used it as cover waiting for my clip to run out.

Instead I let the wall disappear only to be surprised to find three shadow clones instead of one. The spread out and charged me all together. I unleashed the rest of my rounds at the three Blake but this time I used my Aura to encase them in fire. The rounds shredded through the two clones while the real Blake blocked them with her sheathe.

Blake and I once entered into close quarters combat parrying and dodging each other's attacks. Once again we were both locked in a stalemate as we both matched each other's speed. Blake let out a grunt and summoned a clone to help her fight. This time the clone was solid and could fight back. This made it harder to keep up even though the clone was much slower than the real Blake.

Using a wall I pushed Blake away from me and quickly dispatched the clone. I allowed the wall to disappear and returned to the fight between us. Blake returned to using her kusarigama to keep me at a distance. Just like before I kept her attacks at bay and returned back to fighting her in close quarters

BLake switched tactics using her gun up close instead of dual wielding her sheath and katana. The attacks forced me to watch out for where her guns a barrel point and where she was swing her sheath.

Her tactic has successful forcing me into a pure defensive mode. If I tried to attack I was leaving myself open to one myself. Knowing that Blake could keep this up longer Summoned a wall that made her hesitate. I shifted the spot she was standing forcing her off balance.

In a fraction of a second she fixed it but it was too late. I stabbed at her with Death as she brought up her sheath to block it. I retracted the blade and turned the stab into a punch as it slammed into Blake chest flinging her back. This time she wasn't so lucky and fell hard onto her back.

I leapt forward through the air and stabed forward with both Life and Death. BLake rolled to my left and into my blind zone just as I planned. Before I hit the ground I retracted Life and deaths blades and landed in a handstand position. Twirling my legs I spun and Lashed out with a kick.

My foot made contact and I heard the crowd let out a groan in response as the buzzer went off. The kick had made contact with Blake's head as she rolled up from the ground. The force had forced her into the red and then shattered her Aura. I quickly got up from the ground and ran over to Blake where she was laying on the ground. A small trickle of blood ran down her face where I had made contact.

Over the speaker, Glynda began her announcement. "The winner of the match is William Boone Miss Belladonnas Aura has been eliminated. Congratulations next up is Yang Xiao Long versus Pyrrha Nikos."

The rest of team RWBY joined me in the arena as I helped Blake up to her feet. "I'm gonna take to the infirmary just to make sure she's ok." Ruby helped me get Blake out of the arena. "Do you want me to come with you?" This time Blake spoke up. "I'm Okay really I really don't want to miss Yang's fight."

Yang however felt different. "Nope Boone is right you need to be checked out. Plus as long as Ruby is here I have all the support I need." Yang proceeded to pick Ruby up in a bear hug.

An hour later Blake and I walked out of the Infirmary both without injury. The doctor had given Blake an Aura supplement that helped her to quickly regain her Aura and to heal her cut. "I'm really sorry I kicked you so hard I really didn't expect it to break through your Aura." Bake shoved me as we walked back towards our dorm room. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I used your blind spot to get an advantage and broke your helmet. Plus I wasn't expecting you to use an attack like that. Call me impressed." I let out a Laugh and shoved Blake back.

"Hey on the bright side I can install the new camera I made for my helmet and I know have the idea to put bulletproof over the lense so no one can shoot it out again. So I say we're even." Blake accepted defeat knowing I wouldn't let her be the bad guy even though I almost gave her a concussion. "Let's head back to the room I want to know how the fight went."

When we entered the room we found Yang laying on her bed as Ruby was on the ground crying from laughter. "I can't believe she did that I mean seriously." I gave Ruby a weird look not understanding what had happened. "So how was the fight." Ruby shot off the ground as Yang held a pillow on her head in shame leaving Ruby to tell the story.

"Yang lost to Pyrrha almost as quickly as Yang beat that one guy." Ruby had to take a second to catch her breath as the laughter subsided. "Pyrrha knocked Yang out after she blocked a couple of her attacks by drop kicking her into a pillar. When Yang broke free from where she had been slammed into it Pyrrha used Arkoús as a boomerang to break the rest of the pillar and dropped it on Yang."

I smirked thinking about a giant stone pillar falling onto Yang. "Wow, you really hit rock bottom didn't you." Yang got up and chucked her pillow at me. The pillow hit me square in the face and fell to the ground as a smile formed on her face. "No, I fell gracefully like a feather." Once again Ruby slapped Yang across her head only to be stopped when Yang caught her hand. "Do you get it? Like a feather because you know pillows have feathers in them."

Blake let out a moan at the terrible joke as she grabbed laid down on her bed. "Well now that we know that it's Boone vs Pyrrha tomorrow what should we do." I don't let anyone answer because I knew exactly what I need to do. "Well, you guys can do whatever but I'm going to the Workshop to work on my gear for tomorrow so see ya." I dashed out of the room not wanting to be stopped by any of the girls who wanted to change my plans. Hopefully, tomorrow will go smoothly and I won't get my ass kicked my Pyrrha.


	10. Chapter 10

After my two fights and taking Blake to the infirmary I decided I was going to spend the rest of the day alone. Most of my gear needed to be fixed up so that it was back to one hundred percent. The thing that needed most work was my helmet that Blake shot the camera out of making it useless. Luckily I had been working on a new camera for it so all I need to do was install it and then place a bullet proof piece of glass on it so no one else could shoot it out.

Most of my other gear just needed to be adjusted or given a quick clean up. I cleaned my armor and gave it a new paint job since it began to chip off. Next, I moved on to my trench coat. There was nothing I could do for it. Sadly since I started here at beacon plenty of people had cut and put holes in it and it was now beyond repair. I opted to switch to carrying my ammo in an ammo belt removing the need for the coat.

Across my chest, I also decided to wear a sling that could hold shotgun shells and dust rounds for Life and Death. I decided that having I was going to switch Death over to a shoot shotgun rounds instead of the 7.62 mm rounds. Hopefully, this would allow me to do some damage up close.

It took me close to three hours to switch out the parts for Death since they were small and still needed to be able to collapse down. In the end, I ended up with a shotgun that could launch a slug at high speeds at my opponent. The rounds weren't explosive like Yangs but they would still hurt. Plus I could switch them out for some shells that used dust for some fun.

I looked over at the clock and realized I had spent more time working on my gear then I had wanted. It was now close to 1 in the morning and I couldn't return to my room unless I wanted to face three angry girls. I decided to head to my spot on our dorms roof since that's where I spent most my nights anyway.

The breeze always helped me sleep even though it was only for a few hours and a light few on top at that. Since tomorrow was saturday I decided and the fight wasn't till three I would go to the gym when it opened that way I didn't have to wait till everyone woke up at ten.

It was the next day and I was in one of the schools many gyms test out my weapons on a handful of targets set up in the gyms training floor. Luckily no one ever came to this gym since it had the oldest equipment but for me it was perfect. I began practicing shoot a burst of rounds from Life then following it up with a slug or two from Death.

The new improvement to Death was working without any problems other than I needed to get used to its recoil. The power would be enough to do damage to an Ursa tough armor while Life could hit its weak points with its precise rounds.

I charge the nearest Dummy and sliced forward with Death while shooting off a round. The force f the shot increased my arms momentum and slammed the blade straight through the dummy. The idea a got from Ruby worked well since it would give me an upper hand if I ever got into a fight similar to the one I had with Blake.

A caught behind me startled me as I pulled the blade free from the dummy I had impaled. Ozpin sat in the doorway leaning on his cane like usual. "I do say I'm very impressed with how well you've done in the tournament so far. Especially that fight against Cardin."

I smiled thinking about how funny it would have been to see team CRDL cutting Cardin out of his armor. "Ya well he deserved what happened and if I'm to be punished for it I really don't mind. I say it was worth it."

Ozpin made his way across the gym till he stopped standing a few feet away from me. "I have no intention of punishing you Boone. You simply disabled your opponent in a fight so that you could win. There was no cheating the way I see it. This is not why I came to see you, though. I have some news for you."

I knew this couldn't be good whenever Aria said she had news for me it was never good. "Ya, what is it?" I tried to sound as positive as I could but it didn't mask it at all.

"Since we found you in the forest we have been looking into you past and Aria's death. I don't know how you'll feel about this but I wanted to tell you we found Aria's will and it contained information about your past. I know this is a lot to take in but please do come find me when you're ready." With that Ozpin left the gym leaving me to think about what he had told me.

Since Aria saved me from that fire I grew not remembering anything about who I was. I alway thought Aria was just the person who saved then raised me but she knew about who I was. This information was almost too much for me to handle. I sat down on the gym's floor still trying to get my head back together.

After five minutes I got up deciding that I had more important things to worry about rather than my past. I shot the rest of the rounds I had into one of the dummies leaving it riddled with holes.

I went into the guy's locker room stripped off my gear and took a shower to clean the sweat and grime off my body. The entire time I could feel the thought of my past creeping up trying to make me remember but I wouldn't let them. I wasn't going to let fear control me like it did when I was stuck in that forest.

That moment made me realize for the first time I was happy. I didn't have to worry about being killed every second of the day or when I was going to eat next. No, I had a team who looked after me and treated me like I belonged so whatever happened isn't important. What matters is what I do from this day forward.

I got out of the shower dried off and put on some short and a t-shirt grabbed my gear and went back to the room. When I arrived it was close to 11:30 and everyone was sitting around the room. Blake was reading a book on her bed, Yang was playing one of her fighting games like usual and Ruby was cleaning Crescent Rose.

When I entered the room they all looked up from what they were doing and Ruby slammed into me giving me one of her bear hugs. "Boone where have you been. Ozpin ame by looking for you and we had no idea where you had been." I looked down into Ruby's silver puppy eyes and immediately felt bad for not telling them where I went.

"Ya sorry I spent the night at the workshop and in the morning went to the gym. Sorry to make you worry."

"Well from now on tell us where you are. I really don't like it when we can't find you and what did Ozpin want to talk to you about?" I knew I couldn't tell her the truth so I decided to only tell her part of the conversation. I told them the part about the tournament and how he was proud of me and cut it off there telling him he left. All of them believed it and let it go."

Blake spoke up looking over as I took a seat at my desk. "So how do you feel about today?" I hadn't really thought about how I felt and took a second to think. "I don't really feel anything. I mean I should since I'm going against the girl that literally is on a cereal box!"

Yang jumped down from her bed and rested a hand on my shoulder. "Don't forget she knocked me out in under two minutes." Yang gave me a wink and sat down in the chair next to me. "Thanks, Yang I feel well … worse."

"Ya, that's my job so get used to it" Yang looked away from me over at Blake who let out a little giggle. I took the chance and hooked my foot around one of the chairs legs. I pulled on it and the chair tipped over with Yang in it. BLakes giggle developed into full blown laughter at the sight of the blonde hitting the ground.

"How does it feel to be knocked to the ground twice in under twenty-four hours." Yang grabbed my chair and picked it up with me still in it and threw it to the other side of the room. I pushed off the chair mid flight and landed softly on top of mine and Ruby's bunk bed while the chair hit the wall and broke apart. "Hey, you owe me a new chair."

Yang proceeded to pick up her chair and chuck it at me. "Here have mine." I caught the chair and placed it down on the ground as I got off the bed. "Why thank you, Yang, this is the best present I've ever gotten."

"Well, then you must not have gotten any good presents have you." Her comment made me think I never got a present that Ic can remember. "Actually I've never gotten one I can remember." all three girls gave a serious look and gathered around me. "What is that a problem?"

BLakes voice was surprised when he stare ended and turned into a shocked look instead. "You mean to tell us you've never gotten a present. Not even a birthday present." I looked towards Ruby and Yang but they still both stared at me in shock. "No, I haven't. I don't even know when my birthday so I never expected to get a present."

Ruby was the next to break free of the sudden shock. "Wait you don't know when your birthday is. Why don't you and how do you know how old you are?"

"Well I really don't want to talk about but the records were destroyed when I was little so doctors just guessed and figured I'm close to sixteen give or take a year."

Yang finally fell free from the shock and asked her question. "So you don't you could be either mine and Blake's age or Ruby's." I gave it a thought remembering Ruby is one of the youngest girls ever accepted into Beacon. "Ya. I just never found it important and didn't give it any thought."

"So we need to give you a day to call your birthday then." I stared down at Ruby trying to understand what she meant. "If you don't have a day we can choose one to celebrate it on and give you a proper birthday party you deserve."

"I don't know how about we come back to that. Right now I'm hungry and wanna eat lunch. How does that sound? The three girls nodded and we headed out to eat lunch.

Three and a half hours later I was standing in the middle of Vales fighting arena with a large crowd ready to see a fight. To my surprise, the crowd was a mix of both students and adults. Most of the seats had been filled including the suites holding the "special guests" invited to watch. In the press box, Dr. Oobleck and Professor Port were covering the fight as the announcers. It didn't take me long to spot Blake, Ruby, Yang and the rest of team JNPR up in the crowd since the stuck out with their almost complete coverage of a rainbow.

Ruby and Blake gave me a wave when they saw me looking at them while Yang started shouting something incoherent. All the eyes made me feel uncomfortable as I felt like they pierced through me with their gaze. Pyrrha, on the other hand, seemed to be fine with all of it. I mean she should be she is known as one of the best tournament fighters in all of the remnant.

Ozpin walked out to one one of the suites and stood on a balcony looking over the crowd like an emperor in a colosseum. Ozpin stood in front of the mic and gave a quiet cough to get everyone's attention.

"Once again just like every year since the founding of Beacon Academy. We have the annual first-year tournament. This is not a fight to see who the best is in your class but to see show your potential as hunters and huntresses." With that, Ozpin walked away and took his seat.

Port and Oobleck took over commenting giving a quick sum up of the rules for those who didn't know it. They were the same as usual. The first person to bring their opponents Aura down to the level won.

After giving a quick sponsor advertisement a four sided jumbotron showed displaying a picture of pyrrha and me with our Aura levels. A count down started at ten and Pyrrha deployed Miló and Akoúo. I followed suit by activating my helmet and then Life and Death allowing for their blades to deploy. A few gasps came from the crowd seeing my skull helmet for the first time.

The countdown hit zero and I let loose at Pyrrha with a barrage from Life. Pyrrha Used Akoúo to block the shots and charged. Using Miló in its sword form she stabbed forward while blocking with Akoúo. Counted with Life knocking the strike out of the way and shot Akoúo with a shotgun round. The forced push Pyrrha back and gave an opening to slice at her chest.

The attack missed her by a fraction of an inch and she hit me on the side with a side kick. The force opened up a gap between us and Pyrrha turned Miló into a rifle and began to shoot at me. I held of Life and Death to block the shot and ran towards her. The distance made her switch back to a sword. I swung at her only to be blocked. When she counter her sword skipped off Life's blade and hit my shoulder.

Something was off I know my swing can be off but not my blocks. I summoned flame on my boots and charged back at Pyrrha stabbing at her with Life. Once again the attack missed but I followed it up with a kick to her side. She got her shield up in time but the force made her go down to her knee.

I stabbed at her with Death while shooting a shotgun shell. The momentum sped up the attack but once again it missed flying over her shoulder pulling me with it. With my arm over her shoulder, she grabbed it and flipped me over her shoulder. I land on my feet but Pyrrha spun and slammed Akoúo into my back.

My last attack confirmed what I had been thinking since the fight started. Pyrrha was contring my attacks somehow. The last One I felt something pull me over so that it missed. Suddenly it all made sense why she was called the invincible girl. She could control magnetism and that's why only my kick landed since should couldn't move it out of the way.

I jumped back from Pyrrha and returned Life and Death back to their compact form. I then pulled them off and threw them to the side. Everyone in the crowd gave me a weird look as I used my aura to form two metal gauntlets on my hand. Since they weren't made of real metal Pyrrha couldn't control them and I still had a weapon.

What I did surprised Pyrrha when she realized I had figured her out. I charged forward to light a jet of fire on my boots that thrust me forward. Pyrrha held up Akoúo and absorbed the attack by dropping to one knee. She then turned Miló into its javelin form and struck me on the side.

I pushed into the attack allowing the blade to slide across my Aura forcing it into the yellow. I came closer to her and sent a kick into her shield opening her chest up fro me to throw a punch in. The attack landed but Pyrrha responded by hitting me with Miló's shaft then followed it up with Akoúo.

Jeez, I can't keep up with her with my blades. I knew that she had both range and power against me as long as she had both Akoúo and Miló. I changed tactic and began to shift my full assault onto her shield. Pyrrha just held it up and absorbed the blows. Finally, I sent a Right hook into its side and it fell free into the sand.

Pyrrha held her hand out to it and it began to come back to her using her magnetism. I summoned a black box around the shield and forced it back down into the sand. Pyrrha gave a discerning look at me realizing she was down to only using Miló.

Pyrrha turned Miló back into a sword and sliced down at me I blocked the attack with my gauntlet and kicked her in the side and followed through with a punch. Pyrrha blocked the punch and sliced across my chest with Miló placing my aura level just above red.

Pyrrha's level had been forced down into yellow but One more attack from her and I was done. Holding my arms up like a boxer I entered into a full defensive mode. Pyrrha came forward with Miló in javelin form stabbing at me. I used began summoning walls around me and dove back behind one. Pyrrha began to shoot at me forcing me to stay in cover.

Pyrrha was moving around making it impossible to spot her without getting shot when I looked over the wall. I summoned an entire wall splitting the arena in half and allowed the rest to dissipate. Charging forward I allowed the large wall to dissipate so I could find Pyrrha. We spotted each other she swung down with her sword. I caught the attack by crossing my arms and locking the blade between the gauntlets.

Pyrrha began to force down on me with her sword making me drop to my knee. With me, lower than her It made it harder for me to push back. The sword began to come closer and it was less than an inch from hitting my Aura.

Suddenly my left eye began to itch and I could feel something flow through me. I pushed back against Pyrrha harder than before and found that my strength had increased. I easily rose off my knee and freed myself from the sword. I swung forward with a punch to Pyrrha's side and followed it with one to her gut.

The next punch was blocked by her sword as she thrust forward I knocked back kicked her leg. My attacks were getting through and Pyrrha couldn't defend against them without her shield. The last few attacks had brought her Aura down closer to red but it still wasn't enough.

Pyrrha got up and used her sword to cut and slash at me using her magnetism to speed them up and give her more power. I kept up blocking them but had no chance to counter.

Finally, Pyrrha's speed was too much and she thrusted forward at my gut. Knowing that there was no chance to dodge and she would win with the hit I dropped my Aura letting it pierce through.

Surprise flew through the crowd at the sight of the sword cutting through my side. Just like when I fought Nora I focused all my strength into my punch and pushed forward. The blade drove deeper and Pyrrha stared at me confused at what just happened. I threw the punch and it made contact with her face and sent her flying.

She hit the ground on the other side of the arena leaving the sword in my side. The buzzer sounded and The screen displayed Pyrrha's Aura level in the red zone. I had just barely won but I beat the invincible girl.

Over the speaker, I could her Oobleck ranting about the knockout as I pulled the blade out. Using my Aura I lit my finger on fire and cauterized the wound. Once my Aura levels increased it would heal leaving only a tiny scar compared to all my others. I walked over to Pyrrha who had pulled herself off the ground and brought over Miló and Akoúo. I handed them to her and she happily took them. "Congratulations. That was quite the fight. I never expected you to figure out my semblance or to let me stab you."

"I just did in the heat of the moment. Luckily it only hit flesh." The crowd was going crazy at the reaction to my win some getting a little out of hand.

Ruby Blake and Yang made their way into the arena and all three caught me in the hung. Surprisingly Blake squeezed the tightest out of all of them. "Jeez Boone, why would you do something so stupid?" I let go and looked at her. "I'm fine and I'm sorry if I made you worry."

The three girls gave me a smile and punched my shoulder. "Why don't you show the crowd your face and take off that stupid helmet. I clicked the button and the helmet retracted back into my armors collar.

Pyrrha, Blake and Yang took a step back and Ruby let out a gasp. "Boone what happened to your face." I stared confusingly at them. "What do you mean."

I turned and looked up at the jumbotron so I could see what the meant. The left side of my face had red veins running across my skin coming out from underneath my eyepatch. The veins color mimicked the red veins that ran through a Grimm's bone mask. The other thing that changed was some of my hair had turned from white to a dark shade of red.

I looked back down at the girls and immediately felt my head began to spin. The first thing that gave out was my knees as I fell to the ground. The last thing I heard was Blake, Ruby and Yang yelling my name then total silence as darkness enveloped my vision.


	11. Chapter 11

I don't know how long I was out for but when I woke up it was to in a place I tried to forget. The house before me was just as I had remembered it. It was small compared to the others in the nearby village but it was enough. The house was painted white with burgundy window shutters and a heavy cherry stained door. From the windows lighted emanated showing signs of life inside.

Slowly I walked up the porch to the door and reached out for the door. My hand stopped inches from the handle as I took in a deep breath. I grabbed the handle and gave it a turn. The door swung open and I stepped into the house I had left behind.

The cool hit my air and I let out a gasp feeling it chill me to the bone. I took a few more steps letting the door behind me close. I stopped where the hallway met the living room and turned to look inside. The room was the same just like it seems the rest of the house was.

I kept moving through the house checking every room I came upon. All of them were the same way they had been left. I finally made it to the stairs and began my ascent upwards. I reached the top and moved toward the first of the only two rooms. I opened my door and found myself staring into what had been my room.

It was quite large compared to others but was decorated with an assortment of items. Along the far wall was my bed adorning a simple black comforter and a few pillows. On the left wall was a large dresser that held all the clothes I didn't have hung in the closet next to it. The jewel of my room was on the right wall. A small workbench was covered in tools and pieces of metal. In the middle sat the project I was working on the first attempt at Life and Death.

I backed out of the room and made my way down the hall to the only room left on the floor. I pushed the door and entered Aria's room. The room was larger than mine with a small bathroom connected to it. The only thing out of place in the entire room was the picture laying flat on the bedside table. I made my way across the room and picked up the picture.

I held the picture up and let the tears flow down the side of my face. It was a picture of Aria holding me up on her shoulders when I was little. The memories of that day flowed back as a smile crept onto my face.

It had been just over a year and a half since Aria had adopted me. She had decided to take me into town for a day of fun. We had run around all day visiting as many shops as we could. It was one of the best days I had ever had. When the sun was setting Aria took me to a local shop that sold candy. I there she bought me the biggest lollipop I had ever scene. She hoisted me up onto her shoulders and we began our way back home. As we left the shop a man with a camera took the picture and showed it gave it so us.

This was the only picture of Aria I knew about. My reminiscing was cut short by the sound of metal striking metal. I raced down the stairs toward the only place left in the house I hadn't searched. By the time I reached the basement door I could feel my chest tightening and my breathing becoming quicker. I ripped the door open and flew down the stairs into the giant training arena below the house. The sight in front of made me stop in in my tracks as tears flowed down my face like a stream.

Standing before me was an Aria holding her two weapons in hand. She was wearing a simple white t-shirt and black pants. She had always dressed more boyish. The sight of her made my chest tighten and my legs weak. I fell to the ground cupping my head in my hands as I sobbed uncontrollably.

The feeling of a hand on my shoulder made me lift my head up from my hands. Staring into my eyes was the same red eyes I remembered from all those years ago. Aria grabbed me and pulled me into a hug letting me weep into her shoulders.

Finally, after I had let out all that I had Aria pulled away from and held me by my shoulders. Tears streamed down her face leaving trails down her face. "Oh Boone, I'm so sorry. I never meant to leave especially not in such a horrible place." In the seconds that Aria spoke reality came crashing down as I remembered all that had happened. "How? How am I seeing you after all this time? I watched you die and I I …" I couldn't finish talking as the sight of Aria laying in that clearing and that damn black pool.

Aria pulled me closer holding me in a tight embrace. "I know you have so many questions? I wish I could answer them all but I can't. Just please know everything I did was for you even if I was being selfish." Aria gripped me even tighter letting the warmth of her body wash over me. "But you can't stay here. It is not yet time for us to meet. You have to go back."

I turned in looked up into Aria's tears flowing from both mine and hers. Aria leaned forward and placed a kiss on my forward. "I'm so sorry I left you. Please know I love you with all my heart." Aria held me tighter and her warmth filled my entire body. I could feel myself slipping away as I fell asleep in Aria's arms.

When I woke up I learned then that nothing was worse than being trapped inside one's own mind. What I was experiencing I would only wish upon the most terrible people in existence. I was back in the forest walking into the clearing once again.

This was different instead of Aria and I it was team RWBY and JNPR with me along side them. None of responded why they were they're just kept walking till we reached the clearing. Once we entered all of them seemed to fall free from their daze. All of them kept looking around confused by where they were. "Boone, where are we." Ruby was in front of me looking like she had just woken up from a nap. "We all need to run. Something terrible is coming and none of us can stop it."

All of them just gave a weird look like I had told the moon hadn't actually been destroyed that it was just a lie. Blake stepped forward and place a hand on my shoulder. "Boone what are you talking about? Why are we here do you know something we don't." I could see the red eyes along the clearing edge appear to surround us. "Something bad is about to happen. Something none of us are ready for. We need to run." All of the gave me another worried look like I was crazy.

From the edge of the clearing, Grimm began to slowly enter many crouched and ready to fight. "Ughh guys we got a problem." Yang activated Ember Celica as everyone deployed their weapons ready to fight. Grimm poured from the forest all running straight toward us. All of brandishing the unrivaled blood lust they creatures had for humans.

All at once we opened fire against the oncoming horde. Grimm fell to the ground slowing the rest of the horde. Many of the Grimm fell before they could reach us but those who did moved quickly as they lashed out. We engaged the rest of the Grimm quickly dealing with all of those still left.

Soon all that was left was the quickly disintegrating bodies of Grimm. "Guys we need to leave. These Grimm are the least of our worries. We need to run before something worse shows up." From the pools, three humanoid Grimm pulled free and slowly sauntered toward the two teams. All of turned at the sound of the Grimm approaching and held our weapons up to them. A second later a barrage of bullets slammed into the Grimm filling them with rounds of dust infused metal. Nora and Yang high fived not knowing that had only pissed off the Grimm.

I jumped from the group toward the nearest Grimm and drove Death into its chest. None of the other teens responded when I was launched back by the Grimm. The other two pulled them up from the ground and charged.

Jaune was the first to be released by the surprise as he shot forward blocking one of the Grimms attacks with his shield. The other Grimm ran through the group knocking Yang and Ren to the side while Ruby and Nora blocked its attack and engaged it. Pyrrha jumped forward and began to attack the Grimm Jaune was engaged with. Blake had run to my side and helped mine off the ground.

Ren and Yang had recovered and were in a fight against the Grimm that had hit me. The sight of the team's attacking the Grimm gave me hope that we could kill them if we hit them enough. Ruby and Nora had beaten their Grimm back leaving it to defend with the without the arm Ruby had cut off.

Jaune and Pyrrha attacked the Grimm together blocking and parrying together like they had been practicing together for years. Yang and Ren were dealing with the last Grimm like it was a game of tag. Ren ran around the Grimm distracting it with a slice of his blades with Yang hit it with a punch that would blow part of its body away. I was mistaken to think we had a chance.

The first to fall was Jaune. Pyrrha had gotten her shield ripped away by the Grimm and was left open as the Grimm sliced down at her. Jaune dove in the way of the attack letting the claws rip through his armor and chest. Jaune was caught by Pyrrha as he fell to the ground. Life seemed to drain from Jaune as the blood flowed from the wounds staining the ground around him.

Pyrrha let out a scream as she held her hands to the wound trying to stop the bleeding. Blake ran across the clearing and engaged the Grimm that had wounded Jaune. At that moment all of them realized that every attack they did to the Grimm was being healed.

Ren and Yang kept hammering away at the Grimm trying to do enough damage that it wouldn't be able to heal. Yang hit the Grimm making it stumble backward while Ren slammed Storm Flower into the creature's head. Black blood poured from the Grimms head and Ren let out a sigh of release. He was cut short as the Grimm claw wrapped around his throat and hoisted him into the air.

Storm Flower fell from his hands as he struggled to breathe against the Grimms hand around his throat. The Grimm lifted up its other claw and thrust it into Ren's chest. The last of the air escaped from Ren's lips as it pulled the claw-free and dropped Ren to the ground.

Tears fell free from Nora's eyes as she dashed across the clearing and slammed the hammer into the unexpecting Grimm. Magnhild hit the Grimm in its chest and blew out through its back. The whole began to fill back as the Grimm healed and Turned to face Nora. Both crouched down and charged at one another weapons ready to strike.

They flew past each other as the sound of metal on flesh echoed through the forest. Nora turned to face the Grimm and found Magnhild lodged inside its chest. The sight that shocked her more was her severed arm on the ground next to it. Nora looks down to find her arm was indeed missing but also the Grimm had also sliced her side. Nora fell to the ground staring at her partner as the Grimm pulled Magnhild from ts chest and threw it to the ground.

The rest of us had fallen back to where Pyrrha held Jaune. Ruby and Blake were attacking the Grimm together slicing away at the Grimm. Yang and I were left to deal with the other two Grimm. Somehow we had more luck at keeping the Grimm back using our shotgun round to blow chunks of the Grimm away.

Blake was having trouble landing any blows deep enough to do any damage while Ruby couldn't find an opening. Ruby was the first to make a mistake when she slammed the scythe into the Grimms shoulder. The creature turned and backhanded Ruby. The blow threw her into a tree leaving her unconscious with crescent rose at her side.

Blake moved to help her leader only to be forced back by the Grimm. Blake blocked the attack using Gambol Shroud and followed it up my thrusting the blade into the Grimms wrist. Gambol shroud sunk into the flesh of the Grimms arm. Blake tried to pull it free but couldn't. Letting go of the blade Blake rolled out of the next attack. The Grimm then grabbed hold of the blade and pulled it free with a wet slick as it skin pulled back together. The Grimm lunged at the and grabbed her around her waist hoisting her into the air.

Blake attacked the Grimm frantically swinging Gambol Shroud's sheathe wherever she could land a blow. The Grimm paid no mind to the attacks healing them just as quickly as they were received. Using its teeth the Grimm pulled the blade from its arm and let it fall to the ground with a metallic clang. With a roar, the Grimm increased it grip on Blake forcing the wind from her lungs. With a final audible snap, Blake went limp in the creature's hand. The Grimm held Blake's limp body and flung it to the side as it moved on towards its next target.

Yang watched the Grimm toss her partner to the ground and became infuriated with rage. Her semblance took hold and flame erupted around the thoroughly upset blonde. Yang charged the Grimm putting all she had into every attack she could land. The force ripped the Grimm apart throwing it body parts across the clearing till it fell to the ground in a heap of black goo. The Grimm had received too much damage and could no longer regenerate and instead disintegrated like its brethren.

"Ya get back up from that you stupid cu…" Before Yang could finish her insult the Grimm she had left behind had come up behind her and slammed its fist through her chest. The Grimm raised Yang through the air letting the blood run down it pitch black arm. A gasp escaped from Yang as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. With a flick of it, arm the Grimm flung Yang off it wrist and to the ground.

The Grimm I was engaged with began to swinger harder as it seemed to become frustrated it couldn't hit me. The other walked past us even as I shot a round into its skull. I t walked over to where Pyrrha was cradling Jaune on the ground. Pyrrha looked up at the beast as it raised its claw and let out a scream of defiance. Team JNPR weapons raised off the ground and flew into the Grimm. Magnhild blew the Grimms arm off while Storm Flower pierced it eyes. Finally, Crocea Mors slammed into the Grimms chest right where its heart should have been.

The Grimm stopped moving looking down at Pyrrha with its unmoving eyes. Pyrrha stood up holding Miló in her hand. With a single stroke, she cut the Grimms head off letting it fall to the ground. Pyrrha knelt back down to the ground and picked Jaune up in her hands placing a kiss on his lips. Second later claws sliced through Pyrrha's back allowing for her and Jaune to be together again.

I was now alone defending against two almost invincible Grimm. I could barely hold against their attacks while unable to land any of my own. In the corner of my eye, I spotted Ruby pull herself from the ground. The sight before her made her let out a scream filled with fear, confusion, and sadness. She rushed forward grabbing Crescent Rose from the ground and fell next to Yang's body. Ruby held her pushing Yang's hair to the her down she stood up and deployed her scythe.

With a single movement, Ruby launched herself across the clearing and cut the two Grimm in half leaving rose petals in her wake. The Grimm fell to the ground and slowly began to pull themselves together. "Ruby now is your only chance! You need to run without looking back." Ruby looked at me as if I had shot her and left her to die.

The Grimm finally finished repairing themselves and jumped at me ready to finish the fight. The Grimm were relentless with their attacks knocking me down closer to the ground with every strike. "RUBY RUN!" The sound of me screaming at her pulled Ruby from her daze and she took off across the clearing.

One of the Grimm finally landed a blow forcing my knee to the ground. I turned to see Ruby running across the clearing past the black pool. As she stepped next to it A black hand reached out and grabbed her around the ankle. Ruby let out a scream as she was dragged into the black liquid. I could see her trying to dig her nails into the ground only to be pulled deeper and deeper into the pool. Finally, her hands lost their grip and she was pulled under the surface.

I let my head turn to face the ground and closed my eyes. The Grimm stood over like it was an executioner and me its prisoner and I was. The memories of that day haunted me. It controlled everything I did. The fear that what happened on that day would happen again controlled me like I was its puppet.

I was done being controlled. I had finally moved past that day when I meet team JNPR and the rest of team RWBY. I had made a life outside of that cursed forest and it could no longer harm me. I wasn't going to face death like a coward full of fear. I was going to stand in front of it and say "Good fucking luck." as it tried to kill me.

When I opened my eyes to face death I was seeing a claw flying towards me. Instead, I was staring at an all too familiar tile ceiling. I had woken up in the same hospital room I had been in a few weeks ago. When I sat up I was treated to the sight of Ozpin sitting in the corner of the room at a small table.

"So the dead has been brought back from the afterlife! Might I ask how you feel?" I immediately wanted to respond I felt like shit but that wasn't the truth. I felt like I had taken a much-needed nap and that I had woken up feeling slow from grogginess. The biggest change I had was the use of both eyes. I held my hand feeling my left eye. When I touched it I could feel the cold metal underneath.

I shot off the bed and looked in the large mirror that ran along the wall. The sight before me showed just how long I had been asleep. My hair was slightly longer than before and still had the red streaks running through it. Luckily the black veins were no longer present. When I looked into my left eye I was met by a perfectly normal eye other than the damaged red eye I had before.

"What happened?" The question was simple but at the same time, it wasn't. When I turned to face Ozpin he let out a sigh. "When you collapsed at the tournament you were brought here immediately. You had entered a comatose and have been here for the past two weeks." The answer was not the one I had been looking for. I could feel the anger rising inside me and I was feeding it like a fire.

"I know that. What I meant is WHY did I pass out. And WHAT THE HELL DID THEY DO WITH MY EYE!" Ozpin didn't look away or even flinch when I yelled at him. "Please do calm down Boone. I understand you're confused but please don't yell." I let out a grunt and sat down on the end of my bed. "When you were brought it the doctor told me your eye had Grimms blood in it. During the fight, it was somehow activated and began to spread. The doctors were forced to remove your eye or else the blood would have eaten away at your soul till you died."

I reached up to my eye remembering how it looked before. "So they replaced it with a new mechanical one?" Ozpin stood up from the chair and sat down next to me on the bed hold his cane out in front of him. "You were very luckily much of the nerves were still intact if not you would still be blind. I know this is a surprise to you but do know your team has visited you every day. Miss Belladonna was forced to go to class by the rest of your team when she wouldn't leave your side. I do say you have formed quite the bond very quickly."

"Professor do you know what it's like to be trapped in the past. Unable to move forward because the fear holds you still. I don't know who I am let alone how to move forward. All I know is that is want to stay here and I can't if I'm stuck in the past."

"That is why I came to you before the tournament. When you were brought here those few months ago it was a surprise to all of us. No one knew that the boy on his first mission had survived all this time and finally made his way home."

"I know the story of what happened. I mean shouldn't I I'm the one who survived that damn forest for three years."

Ozpin let out a small laugh at the joke. "When I learned who you where I sent people out to your's and Aria's home. What we found was quite interesting." Ozpin stood up and moved over to a box in the corner and a large package next to it. Ozpin grabbed the box and sat back down next to me. Ozpin opened the box and pulled a leather notebook from it. "This a journal Aria kept. Inside is a history of the last sixteen years including your birth."

"How does Aria know about my birth. I didn't meet her till she saved me from the fire. The most she knew was my name. I grew up not knowing my own age and you're telling me she knew about my birth."

Ozpin laid the book down and pulled a piece of burnt paper from the box. "Boone can you tell me what Aria's name last name is. Or why you have the same colored eyes and hair." I was confused by what Ozpin was asking me, of course, I knew her last name it was. It dawned on me that I didn't actually know what it was. "No, I-I don't remember. She never told me what it was. And so what if we looked a little alike. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Her name was Aria Tanis. She was a student here once and she was at the top of her class rivaled by one person during her entire stay. She is also your mother." Ozpin handed the paper toward me and let me look at it. "This was pulled from the fire sadly some of it has been burnt but it is still there." Ozpin was right. The paper listed my name but instead, it showed what was my real name the one I never knew. William Boone Tanis. I was born December 19 almost seventeen years ago. Under parents, the name was Aria's name and the name of a William Forsythe.

"Why would she hide this from me. She let me grow up with strangers and just happened to save me from a fire. Then she raised me and never told me who she really was. Why would she do that?"

"Boone I understand this is a lot to take in but do understand it was for the best. When you were born Aria knew she couldn't take care of you. The death of your father was too much so she left you in the care of your grandparents. When that fire happened she had just come back from a mission. Luckily she made it in time to save you."

"That still doesn't answer why she never told me she was my mother. I spent so many years wishing I had a family. Now I learn I do but it's a little late."

"Boone, she brought you here to the beacon and I afford to let her leave you here to live in the children's dormitory with the children of other hunters. She said no and decided to raise you herself. The reason she didn't tell you she was your mother was because she feared you would hate her."

At that moment I realized Ozpin was right. If I knew she was my mother I would have hated her for leaving. It would have made it impossible to have all the good memories I had of Aria.

"Aria did leave you a will and until now I have been unable to do it. But know I believe is the time I can finally read it. "To the only person in this world worth fighting for my son William. I leave everything I own including the house and all my accounts. I just want you to know I'm sorry I never told you. I was selfish for doing it but I want you to know I love you. Be able to watch you grow up and become so strong made me feel so proud even though I didn't deserve it. I will always love till the end of time."

As Ozpin read the letter and handed it to me so I could read it. "Boone you must understand parents do not always do the right thing. Making mistakes is part of being a parent. I believe you may understand this one day."

"Ya, I think I might. I just need time to take this all in." Ozpin got off the bed and grabbed the package he had left in the corner of the room. "Boone there's still more to who you are. Your father also plays into your role."

I was confused from what I had gathered my father died before I was born. "What do you mean? He's dead what does that have to do with me now." Ozpin stood in front of me and laid the package on my lap. He grabbed the chair from the corner and sat down in front of me.

"When your mother was here at Beacon she was part of team WAYS. Your father just happened to be the leader of that team. His name was William Forsythe a master swordsman and heir to the greatest families of hunters known to man." Ozpin stood up and grabbed a coffee mug from the table and sat back down taking a sip. "A little over seventeen years ago Vale was attacked by one of the largest Grimm hordes we had ever seen. Your father left your mother who was pregnant with you to fight."

"So you're saying he left us to fight the Grimm and never came back. So he died and left my mother to take care of me alone."

"He did not die on the battlefield. Boone, Your father was rallied all the huntman left after the first few waves to stand back up and fight. I may not have been there but I've been told by countless people he turned the tide of that battle. He was brought back after all the Grimm had been wiped out. No one knew he had been injured. He made sure everyone else was taken care of first. By the time doctors learned he was hurt he was already on death's door."

Ozpin reached into his pocket and pulled two rings out and placed them in my hand. "Your father gave up his right to the Forsythe fortune when he married your mother. Sadly it was kept under wraps by his parents. The only thing that proves you to be his son is inside that box."

I opened my hand and looked at the rings Ozpin had given me. The first was small gold engagement ring with a single black crystal. The other was a black gold wedding band. Across the bottom of each ring was an engraving of a dragon and wrapped around a phoenix.C

The box I was holding was a simple cardboard box about five feet long. When I pulled the box open surprised to find a cherry wood box. It was designed with golden patterns that slid across the polished wood. On the front was a golden crest shaped like a phoenix with its wings spread wide. The latch was closed shut using a lock without a key hole. When I pulled on it stayed shut. "It won't open."

Ozpin let out a chuckle as I pulled on the lock again. "That is an Aura lock. Only someone with the Forsythe blood running through their veins can open it. If you can it proves that you are indeed the heir to the Forsythe family."

I placed my hand on the lock and let my Aura flow into the lock. The lock popped open with a loud click and fell free from the box. When I lifted up the lid I was greeted by the sight of a cavalry saber sitting inside. When I picked up the sheath I was surprised at the detail of the sheath. The sheath was pitch black with the same gold details as the box running across it. Along each side, the sheath had raw dust crystals of all types embedded into it. I grabbed the saber's handle and pulled the sword free letting the sound of metal sliding on the sheath echo through the room.

The sword was longer than most cavalry sabers with the blade being close 3 and a half feet long. The blade's color matched the color of the blade I could summon with my semblance. When I held it in my hand it felt perfectly balanced. The most surprising part was I could feel the dust running through the metal as if it was alive. The most curious part was a large colorless dust crystal placed into the butt of the handle. "Ozpin what is this?"

"That is the greatest weapon in Remnant history. It is one of the first ever dust infused weapons created. It can only be used by the Forsythe family and has been passed from heir to heir for centuries. It was had no name until your father named it Grimm's Bane."

"Why am I the only one who can use it. It seems to me that it's just a sword. The only weird thing about is I can feel the dust flowing through it."

"That is what make it special. That sword was made using a technique that only the original maker knows of. The key to it is the colorless dust crystal. It allows the user to endlessly any type of dust. The sword rejects all who pick it up other than Forsythe's. Your father locked it up and gave it to your mother before he died so that you could prove who you were."

"Thank you Ozpin. Without you, I wouldn't know who I am. You've given me a reason to carry on and face whatever comes my way."

Ozpin stood up and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Boone, you must understand the job of a teacher is not just to teach. Our job is to mold our students so that they may move along in life. What we do is more important than almost everything else in this world." Ozpin released my shoulder and walked over to the door and opened it. "I will speak with the doctors before I leave. I believe you will be able to return to your team. Do note I sent a message to your scroll. There have been some changes to your team and you are now stationed in the floor above where you had been." With that Ozpin left me alone in the room to contemplate what I had learned.

That night I was meet with a sound slumber and dreams of when I lived with Aria. When I awoke I was greeted by the sight of a nurse with food. After eating a doctor came in and declared me fit to return back to my dorm.

When I pulled opened my scroll after had it returned to me I went to look at the message Ozpin mentioned. When I opened it I was surprised to learn we would be getting a new teammate so we were moved to a larger room. The rest of my team had already been moved and all my stuff was with them. Also in the message was the information to access Aria's accounts.

When I opened the account I was surprised to learn I was now by terms rich. I closed my scroll and cleared the idea of the money from it. I then walked out of the room and began to make my way back to my new dorm room. Many people gave me strange looks as I walked. I would too if I saw a kid with white and red hair walking past me with a black sword hanging from his waist.

When I made it to the new dorm room I was surprised by the lack of traffic in the hallways. Classes had ended a while ago and yet no one was in the hallway other than me. I turned back to the door and let my hand rest on the handle before I pulled it open. "Ok, let's start another adventure!"


	12. Chapter 12

When I opened the door to the new room I was surprised to find it was very similar to the one we had been in. As I was trying to take in the rest of the room I was tackled to the ground in a giant hug. I was surprised to learn it wasn't Ruby but Blake who had me on the ground. Ruby and Yang ran out from another part of the room and joined the pile on the floor forcing me to let out a grunt at the amount of weight on me.

"Oh my god! Boone are you ok. Did we hurt you? When did you wake up? Why didn't you tell us? I have so many questions." Ruby had jumped off the pile and began to dash around the room frantically spouting questions.

"I'm fine Ruby just being slowly being crushed." Yang and Blake let go and jumped up from the ground. Yang held out her hand and helped me up. "So how you feel tournament champion?"

I rubbed my head trying to figure out what to say. So much had happened since I woke up and I was still trying to work through it myself. "Umm Ok, I woke up yesterday and Ozpin was there. Then I spent the rest of the time doing a bunch of tests and was cleared to come back."

By the point, I finished Ruby had collected herself enough to join us. She ran over and jumped on my back and grabbed one of my ears. "Ohh my god your ears are so much cuter now that one's red. Oh, and what happened to your cool eyepatch" Ruby kept rubbing my ear and I had to keep from letting out a purr at the feeling. "Ya, when I woke up it was a surprise to see some of my hair had changed colors. The weirdest part was I could see out of my left eye."

Yang jumped in front of my and began to look closely at my eyes. "What exactly did they do to you. You seem different." I let out a sigh and Ruby jumped off my back. "Boone, what's wrong?" I knew that I needed to tell them what happened. It was about time I opened up.

When moved past the girls I was surprised to see the room actually was bigger than the other. The room we were in was decorated the same way our other had been even keeping the bunkbeds. Where the room should've stopped there was a half wall that separated it from a small the far wall of the kitchen were a pantry and closet. Next to it was a bathroom that had a full bath and shower.

I moved over to the table in the kitchen and sat down in one of the chairs. "Guys there is something I need to tell you." Blake was the first to move across the room taking the chair next to me. "Don't worry Boone. Whatever you tell us we won't think any less of you."

"To tell you what happened at the arena I need to tell about how I ended up here in Beacon and why I have all the scars." Yang and Ruby by this point had pulled up chairs and were facing me. "When I was a kid my home was attacked by a group of Grimm. They slaughtered my family and left me to burn inside of my house. I was saved by a Huntress named Aria. She took me in and raised me to be a hunter." I could feel my chest well up as I talked and let out a breathe to collect myself.

"Three years ago Aria took me on my first mission. It was supposed to be simple we get dropped off, search for a possible site for a new village then come back. We stumbled upon something we should never have." Blake had taken my hands into her own when the tears fell from my face. "Boone, you just got back from the hospital. This can wait if you don't feel up to it."

I shook my head and gripped her hands tighter. "No, I've kept this locked up inside and it slowly killing me. I need to let it out."

I released Blake's grip and took a deep breath. "During the mission, we stumbled upon a clearing where we were ambushed by Grimm. Aria was trained huntress and we took them down with ease. What came next no one should ever have to face. It was a Grimm that could regenerate itself after almost any attack it took. During the fight, it grabbed a hold of Aria and I tried to save her. I was batted away like I was nothing. It took my left eye then Aria right in front of me. It let me hold her as she died in my arms."

"Boone, I'm so sorry we had no idea. If we knew we wouldn't have…" I held up my hand cutting Yang off. "You never did anything wrong. You guys have done everything you could have as teammates and more." Ruby got up from her chair and laid her cloak over my shoulders. And sat back down.

"Right after she died I felt all the anger in the world flow through me. I unlocked my semblance right after I needed it most. I was so angry that when I stabbed that Grimm I could feel the light around me being burned as I turned it to ash. After that, I spent the next three years making my way through that forest. Whenever I found a village it had either been abandoned or Grimm had taken it out. Eventually, I made it back and was brought here."

"Boone, I understand your pain but what does that have to do with what happened at the tournament. Your face had black veins and suddenly you are some of your hair changed colors." I pulled the cloak over my shoulders when Ruby mentioned what had happened."

"When I woke up the Ozpin told me that the Grimm had left its Blood inside my eye when it attacked me. Some how during the tournament it was activated resulting in what happened to me. The had to remove to get rid of it and replaced it with a mechanical one. If they didn't I could have died or worse turned into one of those damn Grimm."

"They removed it so that means you'll be ok right." Ruby had a tear rolling down her face and Yang placed a hand on my shoulder leaning against me. "Hey don't think something like that is going to take out the best fighter in our class. I mean come one he took out the Invincible Girl."

"Thanks, Yang but they are still more to the story. Before the tournament Ozpin came to me saying he dug something up about my past. I blew him off but when I woke up he told me what he found." I pulled out the two rings and laid them down on the table. I then unclipped the sword from my belt and placed it next to the rings.

"Ozpin told me I was born on December 19 seventeen years ago to the name William Boone Tanis both my parents were Hunters. My father William Forsythe died from wounds while protecting Vale from a Grimm attack before I was born. My mother was devastated by my father's death and left me with my grandparents so she could continue to be a hunter. She was the one who saved from that fire when I was a kid."

"Wait, Boone, I thought Aria saved you not your…. Wait are saying." I gave a nod to Blake letting the surprise settle in. "My mother name was Aria Tanis the same name as the person who taught me to be a hunter. She his who she was fearing that if I knew who she was I would hate her for leaving me. The funny thing is … She was right. Growing up I hated the person who left me."

By tears where flowing down from all of our eyes. "Ozpin gave me all the stuff left to me including my father's sword. Of what he told me my father gave up his right to the Forsythe family to be with my mother. I just wish I could have met him."

I let my head fall into my lap and let the tears flow freely as I sobbed. Yang picked me up and put me down on the couch in the bedroom. "Boone it will be ok, Just relax and go to sleep." Yang's words sent a warmth through me alongside Ruby's cloak. Slowly I surrendered myself to sleep and drifted off into darkness.

When I woke up I pulled myself off the couch and stood. My balance faltered as vertigo hit me like a freight train. I placed my hand on the couch slowly letting my dizziness pass. Standing up straight I looked around the room and found everyone else was gone except for Ruby asleep on her bed.

Ruby was sprawled out on top of her covers with her scroll held in one of her hands. Ruby must have fallen asleep while keeping an eye on me. I turned away and walked over to the kitchen and grabbed the rings and my sword off the table. Behind me, Ruby let out a groan and I turned to face her.

Ruby was moving in her bet trying to grasp at something that wasn't there. It took me a moment to realize she was trying to grab her cloak but she didn't have it. A quick scan of the room and I discovered it on the couch remembering Ruby had given it to me when I was talking to them.

I grabbed the cloak and brought it over Ruby laying it across her like a blanket. Instinctively Ruby grabbed the cloak and pulled it closer to herself. Ruby then shifted curling up inside her cloak and let out a cute moan. A few strands of her hair fell over her face. I leaned forward and brushed the hairs back into place.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? TELL ME HOW YOU GOT IN HERE?" As I turned to face the source of the sudden yelling I felt a very sharp needle poke my throat. Looking down the sword I found I was face to face with a white haired girl with a scar below her left eye. The girl had her Hair pulled up into an off-centered ponytail with a small tiara. Her outfit consisted of a pale blue and white dress that reached down to about mid thigh. On top of that, she had a similarly colored bolero jacket and a pair of white high heels. "If you do not tell me who you are I will skewer without a single thought."

I placed my hand on the sword and pushed it away from my neck and took a step backward. The white haired girl kept the rapier's pointed at my chest ready to strike. "You know I could ask you the same question. This is my room what are you doing int it?"

By this point, Ruby had shot awake and had a look of utter confusion on her face. Ruby lept off the bed down between the girl and I. "What the hell is going on you guys?" Ruby was looking between the two of us like we were crazy for yelling at each other. At the same time, the girl and I began to yell. "WHO IS THAT AND WHY ARE THEY IN OUR ROOM."

Ruby started to laugh as we yelled at each other. "Oh, this is funnier than when I ran into in the courtyard and almost blew us up." At this point, I was confused at what she was talking about. "Ruby what are you saying. That has never happened is this some kind of joke. Who is she?"

"Boone this our new teammate Weiss Schnee. Weiss this is our teammate William Boone Tanis. Well not sure about that last part of his name but he was the one in the hospital. Remember the one we talked about who won the tournament before you showed up."

Weiss let her sword drop away from me and slid it back into place at her side. "Well this is surely and interesting way to meet. My name is Weiss Schnee heiress to the Schnee dust company." Weiss held out her hand and looked me straight in the eye. I took it and gave her a light hand shake. "Ya umm, William Boone Tanis. You can just call me Boone." Weiss let go of my hand and quickly made her way over to what I'm guessing was her bed. She slid a box out from underneath and placed her sword into it and closed it.

"So Ruby since Weiss here has taken the bed I was in where will I sleep?" Ruby literally jumped with joy when I asked the question. "Oh you're gonna loves this." Ruby shot across the room toward the closet and dragged a giant pile of strings and cloth from the closet. Ruby began to drag the thing back to me but fell to the ground when her foot got wrapped up by one of the strings.

Ruby shot off the ground and dropped the object in front of me. "So what do you think?" I gave the small girl a glare of confusion. I looked over at Weiss who had the same look on her face. "Umm, it's a thing! What is it?" Ruby grabbed the bundle and started to untangle the strings till she stood up and puffed out her chest in victory. I looked down at the now unbundled object and finally understood what it was. "It's a hammock!"

It's a HAMMOCK! DO you like it? I hope you do. We wanted to get you something that you would like."

"No offense but why not just get me a bed. I mean doesn't this schools have plenty lying around?" I stared down at the girl expecting her to burst into tears at the comment. To my surprise, Ruby didn't break down but became more bubbly than before.

"Well, when we got the room Ozpin said they didn't have any beds to spare because of all the students from other schools coming soon. So he gave us some money but it wasn't enough to buy a bed. Instead, we got you a Hammock. You can do everything you did before except jump on it!"

"Ok, no offense I'm just gonna sleep on the couch till for now. I'll just buy a bed later." This time Ruby began to break down at my comment. I let out a sigh knowing that I had to do something or else I would have to face a very upset Yang. "How about this I'll set it up on the roof. That way I can use it when I'm up there." Ruby settled back down and I let out the breathe I had been holding.

"So you're a sword fighter like me then." I turned to face Weiss surprised that she was actually talking to me. "Little weird though that you're using a replica as your sword. Why not just create your own?" Instinctively my hand fell down to the sword hilt and gripped it tightly. "Uhm well, the thing is it's not a replica."

"You're kidding right. Grimm's Bane is the strongest sword and can only be wielded by the Forsythe family. The last of the family died less than a year after I was born."

"Well, Boone here is the real deal." Ruby had jumped into the conversation before I could get in a comment. Weiss didn't seem to happy about it either. "That cannot be, for one the son of the Forsythe's died before he had a kid let alone got married. Second, a Faunus as the heir would never be allowed. It is just plain…"

"Disgusting, impossible. Trust me I'm new to this I only learned about this yesterday. However, do not mock my parents. My father gave up his right to the Forsythe family so he could be with my mother. A faunus or not I plan to uphold my father's name, not the Forsythes. So you can do whatever you want to make fun of me but never ever mock MY PARENTS OR THAT I'M A FAUNUS."

"Well shit, when did we walk into a catfight." In the doorway of the room was a Bombshell Blonde with an elbow being shoved into her side my the quite little cat faunus next to her. "I'm going for a walk." Before anyone could stop me I was out the window falling to the ground. Soft as a feather I hit the ground and walked away from the building hoping to get as far away from building as I could.

After an hour I found myself in front of the gym I usually spent my time training in. Pulling the door open I made my way past all the exercise equipment and into the small arena. Dragging as many dummies as I could I set them up and drew my sword.

After an hour of none stop cutting, stabbing and slashing all of the dummies laid in ruin all over the arena. Most of the people who had been in the gym had left once I started my rampage hoping to get out of the way without getting hurt. With a yell I let my aura loose and black fire shot across the arena igniting it in black flame.

Sprinklers above the arena activated after a few seconds dousing me and the fire in water. "I'll take it you're angry then." Behind me was Ruby standing just at the edge of the arena with the bottom of her skirt burnt. "Oh dear god. I'm so sorry I didn't mean to, I just."

"It's ok I've been around Yang before when she got made. Luckily you didn't summon a bunch of spikes that would have been much worse."

I couldn't help but to feel my anger lessen as Ruby talked. Her calm voice seemed to fall over me like a warm blanket. "I really am sorry it just. So much has changed so quickly. I was an orphan who survived Grimm on his own and that was it. Now I'm some heir to a family I never met better yet is that I'm closer to a bastard than an heir. I feel like I know less of who I am the more I know about my past."

Ruby walked across the arena and pulled me into a hug. "Boone who you where doesn't matter. What does is who you want to be. Most know Yang and I don't have the same mother. Most don't know that Yang's mom left her after she was born. That didn't stop her from being the best older sister even after my mom Summer died. We just kept moving forward and so far it's worked out."

It hit me all at once. What my parents had left for me wasn't to hold me back in confusion. It was meant to push me. "Thanks, Ruby. You know you really are a good team leader."

Ruby let go of me and started rolling back and forth on her heels with a huge smile on her face. "The best team leader."

"Yes the best, but hey it's not like there's any one to compare you to other than Jaune and Cardin." Both of us laughed at the thought of the comparison. "Hey since we're here wanna have a go. I really wanna test my sword out on something that might actually fight back."

"Ohh yes just give me second to call in my locker." as Ruby talked she wiped out her scroll and clicked a button. A few seconds later the sound of an object slamming into the ground outside echoed through the gym. Ruby shot outside leaving a streak of rose petals in her wake. In a heartbeat, she was back in the room slamming a magazine into Crescent Rose. "How about we don't hurt each other, though. Crescent Rose will do more damage than Pyrrha's sword if it hits you."

I gave Ruby a nod and made my way across the arena. Ruby followed suit and deployed Crescent Rose to its full size. In return, I drew Grimm's Bane holding it out to my side. "Make your move Red." Ruby smirked at the nickname and shot across the arena using her semblance. Using her momentum she swung Crescent Rose at my chest in a large arc. Planting my foot I held up my blade and absorbed the force of the hit sliding back a couple inches. With my blade locked inside of Ruby's, she fired off a round forcing my blade down to the ground.

Ruby then followed up by attempting to slam Crescent Rose's shaft into my chest. I grabbed the shaft just before it hit my chest. Pulling Ruby along with her weapon I threw her to the other side of the arena and charged while she collected herself. Ruby wasn't ready when I stabbed at her landing a blow on her upper shoulder and followed it with a slash across the chest. "Oh come on I thought speed was your thing!"

Ruby smirked and kicked her semblance into gear flying around me. Soon I was surrounded by a vortex of rose petals unable to see anything. "Well if that's how you wanna play it then ok." I let the tip of my blade touch the ground in front of my and sent out a blast of wind in all directions. The wind slammed full force into Ruby knocking her to the ground. She quickly got up as I charged her and countered my swing.

This time when our blades connected she kicked me in the leg and pushed off firing a round to push herself away. As she flew backward she shot the rest of her magazine at me. Most of the shots I dodged as I ran toward her and the others I blocked with a flick of my blade. When she landed she slammed her feet to the ground and swung Crescent Rose like a hammer. The scythe flew down in a downward swing and I held up my blade over my head to stop it.

The force of the attacked pushed me down to one knee. Ruby held me there as she pushed down forcing me to fight back. With a push upward I knocked Ruby off balance and spun around slamming a kick in the back of her leg. Ruby landed on the ground while Crescent Rose fell a few feet away from her. I stood over her holding my sword up to her throat. "Oh, great leader, do you yield?"

"I do but only if you commit yourself to the tyranny of my power." I let the sword fall away and held out my hand and pulled Ruby up from the ground. "Boone, How are so good with your sword already. I mean you've only had it for a day."

I placed Grimm's Bane back in its sheath and walked over to where Crescent Rose was on the ground. "When Aria trained me she taught me how to wield almost every weapon from daggers to sword, axes and even scythes." I gave Crescent Rose a spin in my hand then held it out to Ruby who took it joyfully. "So you're saying you could use any of our team's weapons."

"Ya probably could if you gave me a moment to get used to it and figure out how it works. But enough talk about that how about we go back. Both of us have had a long day and need some rest."

"Ya, but can we stop by the cafeteria first I wanna get some cookies to bring back to the room. Is that ok?"

"Ya, that sounds good."


	13. Chapter 13

After the events of the tournament, it felt good to return back to my normal life. This if normal meant being trained to fight to save humanity from evil creatures. All as I might add while trying to make as little contact as possible with my new teammate after getting in a fight the first day you meet.

Neither Weiss or I had done more than simply acknowledge each other's existence. Most of the time we were together it was either in class or together with teams JNPR CFVY and the rest of team RWWBY. I learned very quickly that Weiss was as uptight as I could have expected. In Grimm studies Professor Port had Weiss fight against a boar like grimm called a Boarbatusk to show some combat and Grimm knowledge.

Weiss did not take it too kindly when Ruby tried to help her by saying to aim for its soft underbelly. Weiss lost it and screamed at the girl and stormed from the room. Luckily she apologized to Ruby that night and they seemed to have made a friendship.

Yang seems to be neutral with the "Ice Queen" but just like me, Blake has not taken a liking especially after she learned about our fight.

Sadly that hasn't been the least of our worries. Even after beating the shit out of Cardin in the tournament he has taken to bullying Jaune. When I confronted Jaune about it he told me to back off. I did know he wanted to deal with it himself I only felt bad because he was getting the full effect of Cardin's rage.

One of the worst days was during Remnant History, Doctor Oobleck was talking about why the Faunus won a battle during the "Faunus War". Cardin flicked something at Jaune who woke up shouting "Hey".

Doctor Oobleck asked him why the Faunus won the battle. Jaune ended up answering the question wrong and Cardin laughed at him. Oobleck asked Cardin the same question who responded with one of his usual racist comments saying. "Animals are easier to train." Oobleck gave them both extra work and from then on Cardin's bullying has gotten worse.

Today hopefully wouldn't be as bad since Glynda got us out of classes y taking a field trip to the Forever Fall Forest. I just hope nothing crazy happens like usual with us. Guessing though that my big damn mouth just jinxed us.

I slid looked back at what I had written in my scroll and sighed as I slid it shut. Blake had told me to write down what was happening around me to help me but it really didn't help. But hey anything is better than nothing. When I looked up from my scroll I was surprised to find the group had stopped and slammed on my heels to keep from bashing into Nora in front of me.

The Forever Fall forest was more than I had expected it to be. It stretched out across the horizon till it met the bottom of the rising sun. The crimson trees swayed back and forth like a sea of blood. Forever Fall Forest was known to be special because of its trees. The sap and leaves of the tree were a crimson color that colored the land in red. The sap was special as Grimm were almost addicted to it.

When we had all stopped we gathered around Glynda waiting for instructions. "Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sightsee. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

The clanging of glass came behind us and we turned to see Jaune joining the group. Jaune was holding a large stack of bottles almost dropping them as he joined us. All of us except for Cardin who gave Jaune a scowl turned back to Glynda as she continued. In Glynda's hand was a jar of the red sap. "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here by 4 o'clock. Have fun!"

With that everyone began to disperse in their usual groups. Team RWWBY and JNPR and I began to walk in our own direction but stopped when Cardin called after Jaune to join them. Before Jaune could try and escape he was grabbed by his hood and dragged away with the rest of team CRDL.

Pyrrha face saddened at the sight of her leader being pulled away. She jumped when I walked up behind her and asked. "Pyrrha what is going on between Jaune and Cardin? This is more than his usual antics."

Pyrrha turned away from the scene and began to make her way with the rest of our group. "A while ago I started to help Jaune train on the rooftops after classes. Something happened one night after he told me something. Whatever happened Cardin is using it to blackmail Jaune. But he won't accept help from anyone."

"I know it's hard to watch this happen but Jaune it's up to Jaune to deal with it. If we stepped in it may do more damage then if we didn't. Have faith in your leader. Ozpin may be crazy but he does know what he's doing no matter how weird it is." With that, the two of us rejoined our group in collecting sap.

A little more than two hours had passed since we had arrived with Glynda in Forever Fall Forest. Most of us had collected all of the samples we needed except for Ren and Nora. Ren was at one of the trees filling his seventh bottle while Nora had finished eating her sixth. The sight was quite amusing especially when she let out a very unladylike belch.

"Hey, Ren might not wanna hand that to Nora or else you're going to have to do more work." Ren gave a questioning look and turned to face Nora next to a pile of empty bottles. Nora reached out to take the newly filled bottle but held it tightly in his hands. "Nora no. You've already eaten all the others we need this for class."

Nora didn't give up her struggle as Ren was literally holding her back. "Ren I'm opening!" Ren understood and tossed the jar into my waiting hands. Nora's eyes followed the jar as it landed in my hand and changed targets. "Uh Oh! Ruby heads up."

Ruby caught the jar and the game of keep away was in full swing. No one was safe from receiving the jar and being forced to Run from Nora. The best was when it ended up in Weiss' hands and a very worried looked passed over her face.

Nora charged the Ice queen and Weiss let out a startled yelp and chucked the jar into the air. The jar flew into the sky and landed on the ground with a loud cracking noise. The jar had shattered and spilled its contents. Nora rushed over kneeling next to the jar's remains and screamed. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

Nora's yell was cut short by the loud roar of a Grimm. Ruby shot up from her spot on the ground with a worried look on her face. "Did you guys hear that." All of us nodded in response and looked toward the direction of the noise.

From the trees, the members of team CRDL all except Cardin shot past. One of the team members named Russell slammed into Yang shouting about an Ursa. Yang was unfazed by the boy and picked him up. "Where?" Russell struggled in Yang's grip but finally gave up and pointed in the direction he had just come from. Yang dropped the boy and he ran off in the direction the rest of his team went.

Pyrrha stopped when she realize Jaune was not to be found with the rest of team CRDL. "Jaune!" Ruby's instinct kicked in ordering Yang and Blake to go find Glynda. The two girl nodded and took off together the rest of us waited for our instructions.

This time Pyrrha was the one giving orders. "Ren Nora go with Blake and Yang. Who knows there may be more out there. The rest of us need to go find Jaune." As the other two took of the four of us drew our weapons and charged towards where Russell had pointed us to.

When we arrived we were surprised to see Cardin getting his ass handed to him by an Ursa Major. The Ursa had knocked Cardin to the ground and was up on its hind legs with it claw raised to hit Cardin. Jaune shot in front of the attack holding up his shield and sword Crocea Mrs to block the attack.

Jaune struggled beneath the Ursa as it leaned against him in an attempt to flatten him. Jaune finally managed to push the Grimm back and held up his shield as the Grimm charged. Weiss prepared Myrtenaster and went to move but was stopped when Pyrrha placed her arm in Weiss' path. "Wait. This is Jaune's fight, not ours."

Weiss tried to object but Jaune blocked another attack and was pushed back by its force. The Ursa ran toward Jaune who in return charged it. The Grimm held its claws out ready to impale Jaune but the attack was stopped when Jaune shield moved into the way of the attack with the help of a black outline on it.

The block opened the Grimm up for an attack and Jaune swung up at the Ursa. Jaune's sword swung through the beast's head cleaving it off in one swipe. The body and head hit the ground and started to dissolve instantly. Jaune fell to his knees letting out a large gasp.

All of stared at the sight before us. Jaune had just decapitated an Ursa like he was cutting through butter. The most confusing part was that something had helped him block the Ursa at the last second. The first to vocalize their confusion was Ruby and then Weiss who asked. "How did he do that?"

"Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs. My Semblance is polarity. I just gave him the little bit of help he needed." Ruby stared dumbfounded at Pyrrha after learning her semblance. It came to no one's surprise when she was confused by what Pyrrha had said. "Whoa, you can control poles."

Weiss flicked our team leader in the head knocking her from her dazed state. "No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!" Ruby crossed her arms and tried to play it off cool by saying. "Magnets are cool, too..."

Pyrrha left the three of us and walked over to help Jaune up from the ground. "Jaune are you ok?" Jaune accepted Pyrrha's help and got off the ground and sheathed Crocea Mors. "Uh ya, I'm fine. Just a little tired." Pyrrha smiled at the boy as he tried to play it off like a cool guy. "Well, I'm glad. I hope this means we can start training together again.

Jaune worried look fell from his face and a smile replaced it. "Ya, that would be nice if thats ok with you." Pyrrha gave a nod and her smile grew brighter. "If you don't mind I need to deal with something first."

With that Jaune walked away from Pyrrha over to Cardin who was laying on the ground. Jaune planted his knee down on Cardin's leg forcing a yelp out of the boy. "Don't ever mess with my team - my friends - ever again." Jaune got off the boy's leg and held out his hand. Cardin took it and Jaune pulled in up to the ground and stared back at him. "Got it?" Cardin started shaking his head up and down in response then took off the way his team had gone.

"Ok, now thats that done why don't we go find the others and have lunch together." ALl the others nodded in agreement and Ruby jumped off the ground and yelled happily.

When we made it back to the rest of the group Glynda started questioning every on what happened. Jaune told her about how Cardin had bullied him and that he finally stood his ground. To top it off he even asked that she not punish Cardin saying he had already gotten what he deserved. Glynda agreed and the nine of us went back into the forest with picnic supplies in hand.

After a half hour walk, we found a spot on top of a hill and laid out the blankets. All of us sat in a large circle and began pulling out food we had brought. The food mainly consisted of pb&j sandwiches and lemonade. To no one surprise somebodies had snuck in a lot of cookies and pancakes.

No one acted surprised except for the two culprits. Everyone started eating and started joking like nothing had happened today. Eventually, we finished all the food and packed up the blanket. "Well, we still have two hours what do you guys want to do."

Everyone looked around having no idea. To everyone's surprise, it was Weiss who came up with something. Well, we could have a team RWWBY and team JNPR competition." All of us agreed to what Weiss said but had no idea what type of competition. "Any ideas other than something that could lead to severe injury." All of drew blanks on something that wasn't oriented on fighting.

It came wasn't surprising when Ruby was the one who came up with an idea. "Oh, I got it how about we play red rover." The idea of playing the game was agreed upon but to make it better we allowed for the use of semblances.

Our two teams separated and formed two lines fifty feet away from each other. On our side, we lined up going Weiss, Ruby, Blake, Me then Yang. Team JNPR lined up in their name order placing Nora and Pyrrha on the inside. "Ok, I say team JNPR goes first. So Jaune calls out who you want to send over."

Jaune thought for a second and decided on who to ask for. "Red rover red rover bring Ice Queen on over." Everyone chuckled at the joke except for weis who drew Myrtenaster and shot across the field with the help of a glyph.

Jaune looked shocked when Weiss slammed into Jaune and Nora's arms. The biggest surprise came when Weiss was almost clotheslined when Nora held onto Jaune with a death grip. Weiss got off the ground and linked arms next to Jaune. Jaune smirked and looked back over to the four of us. "Ok, Ruby you turn."

"Ok red rover red rover send Pyrrha on over." Pyrrha looked dazed when she was called but ran straight at Yang and Ruby. Right before she hit them Pyrrha used her semblance to activate Crescent Rose. When the scythe deployed Ruby and Yang yelped as it forced their grip to loosen and Pyrrha passed through with ease. "Hey, that wasn't fair!" Pyrrha laughed and gave me a smirk saying. "Hey, you said we could use semblances so I did. You played dirty during the tournament so I will too." Jaune and Nora laughed while I was taken back by the surpris sass from Pyrrha.

After a few moments, Jaune got himself under control and shouted. "Red rover Red rover brink little red on over." Again with the nickname, Jaune summoned Ruby who shot off using her semblance. Ruby would have made it to that was if she wasn't a complete cluts. Ruby tripped while she was running and skidded to a stop in front of Ren. "Do I get a do over."

Sadly it was agreed upon that Ruby move was valid and there was no second chance. "Ol we need to call someone over that we can handle but may also be helpful." Blake and Yang nodded in agreement and we discussed on who to send over. "Red rover red rover how about you send Ren on over."

Ren let go of Pyrrha's hand and dashed towards Yang and Blake. It was a surprise when Ren leaped through the air and landed a kick on Blake and Yang's arm pulling their grip free. "Ok come on that isn't fair seriously." Ren just shrugged and returned back to his side and Jaune called out. "Red rover red rover send Miss Belladonna on over.

When Blake ran toward the other side she quickly summoned two shadows clones sending them to two other openings. This caused a problem too from as no one knew which was the real one and where she would actually run through. When the three Blake's landed on the others arm two disappeared in a puff of smoke while Blake came to a halt between Jaune and Weiss.

Weiss had used her semblance to place a reinforcement on her and Jaune's arm. "Sorry, Blake but it seems we already know who's going to win." Blake scoffed at her but grabbed her arm anyway. "Well, shit Yang we're the only two left. If they stop one of us then we lose." Yang grip on my hand tightened and her eyes turned from lilac to red. "We won't let team RWWBY lose. Red rover red rover send Nora on over." It came as a surprise to the other side that we asked to send the strongest person over.

Before Nora came over Jaune handed her a small vial of a brown substance. Nora took it and drank it in a heartbeat. "Ohh this is gonna be fun". With that Nora started to vibrate in place. "What the hell did you giver her?" Ren's face became pale as he realized what happened. "Jaune just gave her a small amount of caffeine. It won't last long but I'm sorry!"

Nora took off from her spot leaving smoke behind her as she zipped toward us. As she was running I summoned two walls in front of her that she crashed through with ease. Nora smirked running faster toward us. I had her right where I wanted her and summoned a short wall right at her feet tripping her to the ground. Nora hit the ground and slit to a halt in front of us still vibrating in place.

"Hey umm is she gonna be ok? Because she's still vibrating." As I spoke Nora let out a groan and stopped vibrating and seemed to melt into the ground. Ren was the one who told us to give it a minute. Ren was right and Nora shot off the ground and patted the dirt off herself. "Sorry guys but she with us now." Nora linked arms with Yang and stuck out her tongue to the other side.

Jaune coughed nervously clearing his throat and continued. "Red rover red rover bring Boone on over." It was no surprise that Jaune chose seeing as the other two were the strongest of us all. What came as surprise was when I walked right up between Pyrrha and Jaune stopping a foot away. Pyrrha gave me a questioning look as I smirked at her.

"Sorry about this but I don't take to kindly to losing." Pyrrha's face turned to shock as wall shot up between the two and split apart separating them. With a large gap, I walked through while the two walls disappeared. "Oh sorry about that. Good luck next time, though!"

Jaune snarled at me then locked arms with Pyrrha once again. I took my spot back and winked at Yang. "Red rover red rover bring Ruby Rose on over." Ruby looked startled when she was called on but took aim between Yang and I. In a burst of rose petals Ruby flew towards us with determination.

Instantly both Yang and I activated our semblances creating a wall of fire for Ruby to pass through. Even though my fire was trying to consume Yang's flame Ruby yelped and diverted toward Nora. Even with her speed, it wasn't enough to break the brawler and bashers grip and was stopped in her tracks.

"Looks like team RWWBy still has a chance hugh?" Jaune and Pyrrha were very upset at this point. Pyrrha had turned red and Jaune had a snarl on his face. "Let's take this up a notch. Red rover red rover bring Yang on over!" I leaned over to Yang and whispered so that no one else could hear us. Yang Gave a nod and charged straight at Pyrrha and Ren.

As Yang ran she threw her hands back and dashed forward in a naruto stance. Pyrrha activated her semblance grabbing the gauntlets on Yang's side pulling her back. Yang struggled to keep her speed up and was slowing down enough that she wouldn't make it through the wall. Right before Yang hit their arms she set of Ember Celica firing a round from each gauntlet. The force of the shotgun-propelled through the two's grasp. Pyrrha released Yang and she rejoined our side with a large smile.

Team RWWBY now had the upper hand with Weiss, Nora, Yang, Me then Ruby lined up with our hands clasped together. Blake, Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren were scared looking back at the wall of people in front of them. "Do you guys want to surrender. Because if you do I will be merciful but only if you beg." Jaune scoffed at the threat trying to play it off but his eyes told otherwise.

"Well, here we go. Red Rover red rover send Blake on over." Blake sighed releasing her grip then taking her stance. "This is ridiculous." Blakes word where eft in the dust as she sprinted forward without using her semblance. Instead, Blake dove at into Mine and Ruby's grip trying to shatter it. To my surprise, the scythe wielder grip was as strong as mine. Blake hit us but bounced back from the force. "Oh come on. I'm not even strong enough to break through." Blake sauntered back into line locking arms with Ruby.

Pyrrha face had gone from upset to scared as their line shrunk and was becoming dwarfed by the enemy line. "Jaune we need to our muscle back on our side. Without it, we can't win." Jaune nodded in agreement and locked eyes with me. "Red rover red rover send Nora on over."

It came to no surprise when Jaune called out Nora's name. It should be said that Nora wouldn't hold back even if it was against her team. Her motto was that it was no point trying if you didn't put in your all. Nora dropped down and charged for yelling out loudly as she barreled through Ren and Pyrrha's grip. It hadn't even affected her when Pyrrha used her semblance to try and slow her down. "But Nora why?" Nora ran back and linked arms with ang and Weiss smiling as she did. "Team JNPR might not win but I'm on the side that will."

Jaune was appalled that his team had abandoned him. "Ok, you guys ready. Red rover red rover send Ren on over." Ren sighed and ran toward us the same way as last time. This time he chose to break through between Ruby and Blake. What shocked everyone was the two girls grip held and Ren was forced to join our side. Ruby was ecstatic that she had been able to hold of another person. "Ya Blake we did it!" Blake smiled at her leader feeling the warmth Ruby gave off.

"Well, we're screwed. Pyrrha you chose!" Pyrrha studied the line trying to choose someone that could be held back but was also strong enough to stop others. This person just happened to be Ruby. "Red rover red rover send Ruby on over." Ruby stopped her celebration. "Seriously will people stop calling me!" Ruby shot off using her semblance just like before.

This time Ruy's semblance started to hit overdrive and she slammed through Jaune and Pyrrha's grip. Ruby slammed on her heels trying to slow down leaving skid marks as she came to a stop. Ruby shot back to her spot shouting about how well she did.

"Good job Ruby but now it's time to end this." I sent whispers down the line telling everyone what to do. "Red rover red rover send Jaune on over." Jaune's face was washed over by a look of fear realizing it was all down to him. "Well ok then. Pyrrha wish me luck." Jaune drew his shield and stepped out from the remains of the line.

With a roar jaune charged forward with his shield raised up. "Everyone now." On my command, a tidal wave of glyphs wall and Blake shadow clones appeared in Jaunes path. It was a surprise when Jaune dropped lower hiding behind his shield.

As Jaune ran forward he picked up his speed slamming through the walls I had summoned while dodging Weiss's Glyphs. Blake clones did nothing but disappear in a puff of smoke as Jaune made contact.

Just before Jaune made it to our line he stepped onto one of Weiss's throwing up his shield to block the ice shooting out of the ground. Jaune Raised his shield higher blocking his vision as he blocked the attack.

The part that non expected was when Jaune ran full force straight at Yang not knowing he was. Yang held of her leg and spartan kicked his shield knocking him to the ground. The kick was so hard it left an indentation in the ground as Jaune groaned in pain. "Hey, Ruby do you know what this means!"

Ruby did her usual shooting around the clearing in a state of pure happiness. Ruby's shouts echoed through the forest scaring Grimm off with the happiness in her voice. "Team RWWBY Wins. This means nothing can stop us. We need to do this again sometime."

Yang caught her sister in her arms stopping the vibrating teen. "Ok come on Ruby calm down no need to rub it in. Team Lose-iper already feel bad as it is." Ruby finally calmed down enough for Yang to let her go. Team JNPR where all hunched over in sadness after losing. "Good one Yang but a little too soon." Yang shrugged happily with the results of her pun. "Anyway how bout we head back and rest before we go."

Everyone stood up and grabbed their gear walking back in the direction of where we had been dropped off. I walked over to Jaune as he grabbed his pack and slung it over his shoulders. "You know it's good to have you back. You're team just wasn't the same without you." Jaune eyes drifted downward as he thought about what h had done to his team. "Boone, have you ever gotten the feeling that you don't belong. Like you are the random puzzle piece that doesn't fit in!"

"Jaune your preaching to the choir. It was hard coming back to society. I spent years fighting and suddenly I had people to protect me. It was something I hadn't experienced. Then on top of that, I learned about my past. Something that has haunted me for years."

"But you need to understand Boone I don't belong here." Jaune grabbed my arm pulling me back from the rest of the group. "I cheated my way in here. I was almost kicked out of by my previous school because I was so bad. My parents told me that I would have a place back home waiting. I really don't belong here and all I'm doing is dragging my team down."

"Well of course you are. You have little skill in combat you don't know your semblance and you only unlocked your Aura a few months ago." Jaune's face reeled back in shock as I berated him. "But I'm not done. Your combat skill has grown faster than anyone's in this school. I mean you decapitated an Ursa Major in one swing. Your semblance will come eventually many people don't unlock it till they need it the most. Then there's your Aura it's something else. Most hunters spend years building them up you, on the other hand, have enough to dwarf most of them."

Jaune lightened up as he thought about what I said. "That still doesn't stop me from holding back my team, though." This time it was my time to grab Jaune and look him straight in his eyes. "Jaune If you put all you have into this that won't be a problem much longer. Plus look what happened when you left your team. They need you more than anything. Without you, they don't know what to do. You're their leader so shape up and go back to them."

With that, I shoved Jaune forward hard enough that he stumbled right up to the rest of his team. Jaune joined back in with his team with an awkward hand to the neck. I ran up and joined the rest of team RWWBY trying to figure out where we would go from here.


	14. Chapter 14

The streets of Vale were busy with people of all races and species. An older gentleman was hanging up a banner while a few fox Faunus set up a small booth. Everyone was helping each other many forgetting about the discrimination throughout the world.

For the city of Vale, it was a special time that came to Vale every eight years. The Vytal festival was a time when students from all the academies went head to head in a tournament to find the best of them. For Vale, this was a time of flourishing business in all aspects. For the students, it was a time of intense training and preparation.

Vale was not a city to be trifled with but at the same time was nothing overly impressive. Most buildings were under ten stories and those above were few. Shops lined the streets selling an assortment of goods and services from weapon shops to a small card stand.

The breeze of the fall wind settled through the occasional tree dropping an array of colors. Children played and adults worked. It was surprisingly calm knowing that outside where creatures whose sole purpose was to kill Humans and Faunus. Let alone that enough dust had been stolen from shops across Vale to supply an army.

Team RWWBY and I were walking down the streets of Vale admiring the town. Weiss was overly ecstatic as she took in the city as it prepared for the Vytal festival. Weiss stopped shooting her hands in the air in excitement. "The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

Weiss continued taking in the view like Ruby did when she was in a weapons store. "Even though Weiss has only been here for a little bit. This is still the most excited I've seen her. IIt makes me feel a little uncomfortable." Weiss Turned to face Ruby appalled but what she had said. "How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"

"Whoop there it is." Ruby, Yang, and Blake cracked up in laughter at my joke. "And what do you mean by that Boone." I looked around trying to find someone to take the fall for what I said. Locking eyes with Yang she mouthed "you owe me" and took over. "What Boone means is you know how to taking something that sounds fun and ruin it."

"I do not." By this point, Weiss had crossed her arms leaning to one side. "I believe proper planning is required to make the most out of something."

"And you wonder why we call you Ice Queen." Yang now stood copying Weiss. The only difference was Weiss' face was a frown while Yang's was a smile.

"You mean because she is a cold heartless heiress, therefore, we call her Ice Queen." It was a shock to all that Blake had opted to join the conversation. "I'm thought it was quite obvious."

"Damn Blake maybe we need to use Weiss to make you chill." The pun was almost cut short by ruby who prepared to slap her sister but instead dropped her hand and laughed. "Quite you." At this point, Weiss had enough and we all took back to walking down the street.

"Hey umm, Weiss why did we come out to the docks anyway. It smells like fish and there's nothing to do." Ruby had finally asked the question none of us had wanted to for fear of receiving the Ice queens cold stare.

"Rumor is the student from other schools will be arriving today. As a Schnee and a representative of Beacon, I believe I should welcome them when they arrive." Weiss held her across her chest puffing it out trying to seem intimidating.

"Weiss you've only been here for what two weeks. Plus to answer Ruby's question it's that Weiss just want's to scope out the competition." Yang and Blake laughed while Ruby let out a long "Ooooh". Weiss, on the other hand, had resumed her upset stance with her hands clenched and arms down to her sides. "You can't prove that."

"Well, then why are we here." At this point we I had stumped the heiress who threw her arms around in a fit almost hitting Ruby in the process. All of us stopped paying attention to Weiss when we came upon a corner dust shop with its windows blown out surrounded by police.

One officer stood to the side writing down notes as he looked over the scene. Ruby walked up to the man with a smile and asked him what had happened. "Robbery. Second shop to get hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." The officer didn't say anything else and left walking over to his partner leaving us behind to talk by ourselves

"Damn I liked this shop. I came here a few times to buy dust for Ember Celica." Yang sighed out looking at the shop owner being questioned by police. Poor guy was trying to answer the questions but kept looking at his ruined shop in disbelief. The Detectives were once again together talking about what had happened. "They left all the money again?"

"Yeah just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much dust." The two detectives stopped for a second scratching their heads trying to come up with a logical reason.

"You thinking the White Fang?" The other detecting took his glasses off slowly connecting the dots of the situation. "Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough to think this much into it." Both detectives laughed and resumed to their task at hand

Weiss scoffed in disgust upon hearing the Detective mention the White Fang. "Hmph White Fang! What an awful group of degenerates."

"What's your problem?" Weiss's anger increased slightly as Blake asked her why she didn't like the White Fang. "My problem is I'm not too fond of the criminally insane." Blake was up in arms at this point. She was just as unhappy as Weiss but for different reasons. "The White Fang are not criminals without reason. They've been pushed around long enough that they've been forced to resort to this. It can hardly be their fault alone."

"Well, I'm sorry I don't stand for lying, cheating, murderous Faunus who do what they want saying it's for the greater good. If you say they are misguided then you are too." Blake's face was now redder than Ruby's hood. "So then they are very misguided. Either way, it doesn't answer the question to why they are robbing dust stores and not taking money."

"Blakes right. Not all Faunus are bad for one and plus what about that guy Ruby stopped before. He was doing the same thing." I looked to Ruby who nodded in agreement while still trying to stay out of the argument. Yang was the one who backed me up saying. "Boone's right it's not their usual M.O."

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal. If I had a say they would be …." Before Weiss could finish someone from the docks started shouting. "Hey stop that Faunus!" Weiss took off towards the source of the noise while the rest of us followed.

When we made it to the source of noise it was none other than a monkey tailed Faunus running away from two sailors chasing him. The Faunus had jumped off the boat slamming into one of the sailors. "Thanks for the ride you guys." The sailor he had knocked down got off the ground and screamed back. "You no-good stowaway!"

Still running down the dock the Faunis jumped through the air onto a light post. Using his tail he hung upside down from the lightpost eating a banana. One of the officers from the dust store had made his way over yelling at the Faunus to get down. The officer then proceeded to pick up a rock and chuck it at the boy. In return, the Faunus threw the banana peel onto the officer's face and ran right past us.

As he ran past we got a close enough view to see who he was. The Faunus was a blond spiky haired teen with a nice tan. He wore a white unbuttoned colored shirt showing off his abs. Below he wore a pair of light blue cargo pants with bandages around his legs and a pair of black and yellow sneakers. To top it all of he had on a set red wrist braces covering his arms.

As the cops gave chase he flew past us and I swear he winked at Blake. All of us stood dazed as he flew down the street. Yang was the one to pull us from our daze saying. "Well, you said you wanted to see the competition and let's say he's bananas. I mean come on he slipped away from the cops with ease." Ruby followed up by punching Yang in the gut while Weiss pointed in the Faunus' direction shouting. "Quick follow that monkey."

All of us took off in chase trying to run down the Faunus none of us were quick enough to catch especially since we wouldn't let Ruby use her semblance. As we shot around the corner Weiss slammed into something and hit the ground hard letting the Faunus get away. "No, he got away. What are we gonna do now."

Weiss got off the ground wiping the dirt off her dress. After a second she noticed what she hit and found it to be a smiling redhead in an old fashioned blouse with short feminine overalls, as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings. On the ground, the girl smiled and said "Salutations."

Ruby was the first to check on the girl with a worried look on her face. "Um … Hello!" Yang backed up her nervous sister asking. "Are you … okay?"

The girl took a second to think like it was a hard question the responded with. "I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking."

"Well, would you maybe I don't know want to get up." Again the girl thought before giving a response. "Yes!" The girl jumped back up from the ground landing with ease. "My name is Penny it's a pleasure to meet you."

At this point, all of everyone backed up except for Ruby and me who stayed put. "Hi Penny I'm Ruby and this is Boone." I gave a nod and motioned to the rest of our team to introduce themselves.

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake"

"Yang tried to crack a joke saying "Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" in return she was elbowed by Blake and responded with. "Yang"

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Especially you Boone, aren't you the one who beat Pyrrha Nikos in that tournament." I never thought that I would meet someone outside the school who knew about the fight. I learned quickly that beating a champion drags in the attention of a lot of people and sponsors (all that got turned away too). "Ya, that was me."

Weiss tried stopping the conversation when she said. "Well sorry for running into you." Weiss turned and we started walking away. We would have made it except Ruby said "Take care friend." and I followed with "Hope to see you again sometime."

Weiss started saying something but was startled when Penny jumped in front of her saying "What did you say." Weiss tried to say sorry thinking she heard her call her weird but penny flew past her towards me and Ruby. "You two. You called me friend and you said I hope to see you again implying we are friends. So are we."

Ruby was overly nervous at this point and I had no Idea what to say but little red spoke anyway. "Umm sure why not." Even as Weiss, Yang, and Blake tried to nod to say no Ruby said it anyway not knowing how Penny would react.

"Sensational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes and talk about boys. And then with you Boone we can fight and get in trouble for doing stuff we shouldn't do." Ruby and I gave each looks of "Help Us" to each other scared by the over excited Penny.

Yang came in for the save asking why she was in Vale. "I'm here to fight in the tournament that's coming up." Weiss was shocked that the girl in front of us was a fighter and not something else. "Wait, you're fighting in the tournament!" Penny gave a nod the saluted. "I'm Combat ready!"

"I'm sorry, it's just you don't look the part."

Blake was the one who commented on the heiress's own appearance and how she hardly looked the part. "Say the girl wearing a skirt." Ruby and Weiss were appalled at Blake for making fun of their skirts. "Hey, it's a Combat Skirt!" Ruby and Weiss high fived trying to prove their point but got nothing but blank stares.

"Ok so if you're fighting in the tournament then you now that pirate monkey stowaway who ran through here." Penny gave Weiss a confused looking not knowing who she was talking about. "Who?" Weiss pulled out a terrible drawing of the Faunus showing it to Penny. "The Filthy Faunus from the boat."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Weiss attention turned from Penny to Blake who gave her an upset look. "What do you mean." Blake anger increased when Weiss acted like she didn't understand. "Stop calling him filthy. Stop Calling him a degenerate. He's a person."

Weiss got sassy at this point she moved around pointing at objects nearby. "Oh, I'm sorry! Would you like me to stop referring to the trash as trash? Or maybe the lamppost as a lamppost."

Weiss pushed Blake to far at this point and Blake shyness completely washed away. "Stop it!"

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time and he'll become like all the other criminal Faunus. He'll go off and join the rest of the scum in the White Fang."

The final push was made and Blake shouted "You ignorant brat." with a low growl in the back of her throat.

Weiss was offended by what Blake had said and held a hand up to her chest. "How dare you! I'm your teammate you shouldn't talk to me like that!"

"You've barely even joined out team. To me, all you are is a judgmental little brat!" This time it was Blake who went too far and sent Weiss of the deep end. "What in the world makes you say that."

"The mere fact you would sort that Faunus boy with that terrorist group just because of his species. That makes you just as bad as you believe him to be. Next thing we know you'll start saying the same thing about Boone just because he upset you."

The argument was escalating too quickly and I could see how uncomfortable Ruby was. She wanted to go and end the fight but didn't have the ability to. Neither Yang or I could stop it either. "So you do admit it. The White Fang is just a group of thieving radical terrorists."

"That's not what I meant. And You know it."

After what Blake said Weiss stayed quiet and we walked back through the city in silence. When we did finally make it back to our dorm room the argument kicked back into full gear. "I don't understand why this is a problem. I mean seriously Boone hasn't even said anything."

Blake was once again at her wits end with the heiress. "You not understanding is the problem."

"You realize you are defending an organization that despises humanity. They wish to destroy everything we built. The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil."

"There's only one thing in this world that is pure evil and it's Grimm, not the Faunus. Why do you think they hate humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin People like YOU. All it does is force the White Fang to take more drastic measures."

"People like me!"

"You're Discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim." Weiss got quiet and closed the distance between her and Blake. "Do you know why I hate the White Fang so much? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus. It's because we've been fighting a war for generations. My Grandfathers company has had a target painted on it back my entire life. I've watched family members disappear even board members executed. Sometimes full train cars of dust would go missing. I would have to deal with my father when he came home full of rage. It made for a very difficult childhood."

Ruby got up trying to comfort Wise but was turned away instantly. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang. It's because they are a bunch of LIARS, THIEVES, AND MURDERERS!"

Blake finally cracked under the pressure shouting back. "Well, maybe WE were tired of being pushed around!"

Everyone looked shocked except for me when they realized what Blake had said. "I .. I" Blake took off heading for the door but was stopped when I summoned a wall in her path. Instead of stopping Blake ran into the wall and turned to dust. Behind us, the window opened and Blake disappeared out it.

"Boone, did you know about her?" I turned to face Ruby who had a sad look on her face. The other two had faces filled with confusion, sadness, and anger. "Yes, I did. I came out as a Faunus to cover for Blake. But that doesn't matter. I'm going after her. You guys need to fix things while I'm gone. I just hope I can catch up to her."

I jumped out the window and took of tracing Blakes scent with my enhanced smell. Blake was moving fast and I was having trouble keeping up with her. Blake was moving across the campus quickly heading toward the landing strip. I pulled out my scroll looking at the time. It was 9:55 and the last airship was about to take off.

When I made it to the courtyard I looked down at the landing strip and saw Blake get on the airship as it took off. I ran as fast as I could but was too late as the airship was already heading down towards Vale. Running back about fifty feet I turned to face where the airship was and ran forward. Just as I hit the edge I summoned a wall platform below me and used it to fling myself through the air.

I soared over the edge of the landing strip flying down toward the airship. I was lucky the airship started to turn or else I would have flown past its side and crashed to the ground a thousand feet below

When I slammed into the side I left two footprints in the side ship and the force shook the entire thing. Two or three eyes peered out the windows one of them was a pair of amber eyes red and puffy from crying. I crawled across the top of the ship to the top hatch and pulled it open jumping inside. "Lot better riding inside than out!"

Blake wasn't happy to see me but neither was the pilot or the two attendants. "Boone, you shouldn't have followed me." Blake's eyes began to water again but no tears flowed.

"I'm not going to let you run away from this. You are who you are. Just because Weiss was being racist doesn't mean it wasn't without cause. I don't like her very much but she is slowly coming out of her shell. Running away will make it worse it could tear our team apart."

"Boone you don't understand. I've done some terrible things. I've hurt people thinking it was for a cause. With time they changed. They were no longer something I could be apart of so I did the only thing I could do. I ran. To top it off I'm doing it all over again."

"That's why I'm here. I won't let you run. Not alone at least. You need some time away to cool off."

"Thank you, Boone, but you really don't need to. I've spent plenty of my time alone before. I don't think it would be much different this time."

"That's true but I'm not going anywhere. I'll send Yang a message so they don't worry. And before you say anything I won't tell them where we are. Just that I'm with you and we're ok."

Blake gave a nod agreeing to the idea. When we freed ourselves from the conversation multiple sets of eyes peered at us. Blake's face grew increasingly red realizing they had heard the entire conversation. "Hey screw off. This is an important Hunter in training conversation. You can be arrested for mentioning anything you hear." At the mention of getting the law involved the passengers and attendants went back to what they were doing.

"Ok, Blake so Where are we going."


	15. Chapter 15

"Ok wait you mean to tell me you're a hunter in training like the rest of us. Adding to that you decided come here early by stowing away on a ship leaving your team back at Haven academy."

"Ya what didn't you get about it the first time I told you. Seriously it's not that hard to understand."

Sitting at a table was Blake and I plus the monkey Faunus from the docks. His name was Sun Wukong and was a student at Haven Academy in Mistrial. Haven was just like a Beacon it trained future Hunters and Huntresses.

"anyway, Blake you've been quite this entire time. Why did you want to talk to me?" Blake for the first time in a few hours looked up from her cup of tea she was drinking. He face was showing the same look it had held since I found her on the airship. A look of worry.

"You two know about the White Fang right." Blake's gaze drifted down back to her tea eyes peering into the cup full of sadness.

"Of course! I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks, if you ask me!" Sun was right and from what I heard he was spot on.

"Ya I don't know the specifics of what happened the past few years but I've got an idea." Sun gave a nod and we looked back to Blake as she reached up and pulled her bow free. Sticking from the top of Blake's head where two Black cat ears with grey fur on the inside.

Blake picked up her tea and took a sip and let out a warm sigh. "Before this I was a member almost my entire life. I was almost born into it if you can think about it that way." Sun gave me a worried look but we both returned our gaze back to Blake.

"The White Fang were not always like this if you can believe it. We were once a group that Faunus looked up to. We had peaceful rallies and protests. I thought we were making a difference but to others not enough. It changed when a new leader came to power."

Tears welled up in Blake's eyes as she recounted her past. Not one of them fell before she used a napkin to wipe her eyes. "Under new leadership we changed how we did things. Protests were no longer peaceful and people were hurt on both sides. The weird thing was it was working. Faunus got more right but for the wrong reason. It was because they feared us and what we had become. I couldn't do it anymore so I left!"

"I don't understand what the problem is. You left because you couldn't support what the White Fang had become. Why would you be scared of that?" Blake responded with a fist to the table that knocked over her cup in return. A few eyes from other patrons responded with a glance but none stayed more than a few seconds.

"I've done terrible things that have hurt people. I used to tell myself it was for the greater good. I lied and lied but it wasn't enough. When I left I needed to do something to atone for what I'd done. That's why I enrolled at Beacon." Blake's eyes shifted back from anger to fear and worry.

"Why not just tell the rest of your team. Other than the Schnee girl I think they would understand. The other might take some time." Blake's gaze rose to meet Sun's understanding what he was saying. Blake's tensed body seemed to ease at the idea of reconciling with the rest of team RWWBY.

"Blake it's been two days I think Sun's right. It's time we go back." Blake didn't respond but gave a nod. I waved at a passing by waitress for the check and we quickly departed the small cafe.

When we made it into the street we took the first alley walking towards the hotel we had taken up in. "So Blake why would the White Fang want all that dust. What could they do with it?"

Blake's pace slowed slightly at the mention of the White Fang but continued forward nonetheless. "I don't think they're behind the robberies. They have no need for that much dust. The only thing that needs that much is an army."

"Blake don't take this the wrong way but what if they did. The White Fang have stepped to more violent means. What if the next step is having in army?"

Blake tightened at Sun's comment of war but Blake's eyes told the truth. She knew that the White Fang was capable of war. She just needed the proof to believe it. "How do we know it's them we don't have any leads."

"Well when I was on the ship I heard some workers talking. They said there was a huge shipment from the Schnee dust company coming in. Like a full freighter of the stuff."

"So what does that have to do with a lead and finding the White Fang." Blake's pace quickened and she began to storm off in anger.

"Blake I think what Sun means is that we should go for the most obvious place to be hit next. If no one comes then we were wrong. If someone else shows up then its no the White Fang. However the last possibility is it proves what we all fear."

Blake stopped and sun had to slam on is heels to stop from running into Blake. "If Sun's information is right then we need to be there to stop whoever it is. The only question is when does the shipment come in." Blake looked over to Sun who scratched his head nervously.

"Well it came in today so odds are it'll get hit tonight." Blake gave a unhappy grunt knowing we had no time to plan for the sting.

"Well let's go we don't have much time!

By the time night fell the three of us were already on watch in the dockyard watching over the dust containers. Blake was on top of a crate looking as over the empty yard and I was behind another to her left.

"Anything yet Blake?" Blake jumped down from her perch without a sound and took a the spot next to me.

"No they just finished unloading when we got here but nothing since." Blake's hand flew to her weapon and I followed suit grabbing onto Grimm's Bane at the sound of a shuffle above of us.

Sun dropped down from the crate above us landing not as gracefully as Blake had. Gambol shroud was pulled free in a flash and was up against Sun's throat who dropped a bag to the ground throwing his hands in the air.

"Wow Blake it's me I just stole us some food!" Blake slid Gambol Shroud back away and pulled Sun into the shadow of the container. Sun hand flew into the bag and distributed an apple to each of us. Blake took the apple eying it like it was poisoned. "Do you have break the law without a second thought?"

Sun gave a shrug and took a bite out of the apple. "Hey weren't you in a cult or something?"

Blake let out a low growl and reached to Gambol Shroud's hilt. Sun eyes widened and he went to back up only to receive a kick in his chest from me. "Both of you stop. We aren't here to fight. We are here to find out who is stealing all this dust." Blake let go of her sword and Sun gave a mumbling apology.

From overhead, a rush of warm wind and loud engines rained down over us and the rest of the dock. A Bullhead had passed over us and landed in the middle of the dockyard amongst the dust containers. A group of people in white outfits and Grimm masks stepped out. On the back of all of their shirts was a bloody wolf the symbol for the White Fang.

All of us peered over the container onto the scene. One of members with a more weather and detailed mask was shouting orders to its underlings. The White fang started attaching cables to various containers while others opened some and removed smaller crates. "Oh shit Blake is that them?"

Blake gave a nod to Sun's question while taking in the scene with her own eyes. "Yes it's them….. That's the White Fang."

Blake words flowed full of shock and hints of despair. "You really didn't believe it was them did you!" Blake didn't remove her gaze from the scene still watching the leader. "I think I knew it all along deep inside. I just didn't want to. This isn't something they would usually do. They…..."

Blake cut her sentence short as a orange haired man in a white suit and a bowler hat stepped down out of the Bullhead. In his hand he was twirling a cane while smirking at the scene in front of him. "Hey what's the holdup?"

For a split second the Faunus stopped what they were doing. Some even gave a scowl as the human pointed his cane at a few of them. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"

Everyone face formed into a scowl after being called animals. This even included the three of us hiding behind the container. The Faunus only went back to work when the Faunus who had been commanding them before waved them back to work.

Blake peeked back behind the crate looking confused. "This isn't right. No way in their right mind would the White Fang work with a Human. Especially like this one!"

Blake pulled Gambol shroud out and prepared to jump over the container. I reached out and grabbed her wrist pulling her back down. "What do you think you're doing. They're all armed to the teeth and you just plan to run out there with no plan."

"What else can we do. We either let them steal all this dust and get away. Or we can do what we're trained to do. Stop the bad guys." Blake's eyes were full of sadness but behind the was a fire filled with determination.

Sun slammed his fist together almost like Yang only with less of a bang. "I'm up for a good throw down. So what's the game plan?"

Blake gave an approval nod and they turned to face me. "I guess this means I need to come up with a plan?" Another round of nods came my way and I started thinking.

"Ok Blake you go up to those two containers over their. We'll kick of when you move. Use a clone to confuse them while we jump in. Sun will stay here while I go to the other side. Hopefully we catch them by surprise and stop them."

When I finished Blake took off toward her location as swiftly and quietly as she could. Sun gave a shrug and took his position leaving mine to make it towards mine. By the time I made it I could see Blake ready to go.

Blake jumped down and ran up behind the Human. Holding Gambol shroud up to his throat she threatened the rest of the Faunus not to move. Sun and I held our spots knowing we couldn't move just yet.

"Woah take it easy little lady." The human had not a hint of worry on his face. If anything he was entertained by it.

"Brother's of the White Fang why are you with this scum. Why would you aid him." The Faunus all trained their weapons on Blake but none opened fire. They would have if not for the human being in the way.

"Oh poor kid hasn't gotten the memo. Poor dumb kitty." The human had more of a smile on his face.

"What memo?"

The Human let out a laugh at Blake who tightened her grip on him. "You didn't hear. Oh the White Fang decided to hook up with me. I mean who wouldn't want a joint business with Roman Torchwick.

Understanding dawned on Blake. The White Fang was with Roman Torchwick the man who'd been robbing dust shops all over Vale. not just that but he was supplying an army for the White Fang."

"I would love to tell you more about this not so little operation but I have things to do." Just as Roman finished two more Bullheads flew in dropping off troops. The distraction was enough for the man to pull free and launch a grenade from his cane. The explosion shot Blake backward behind a crate while White Fang open fired.

Blake was unhurt but couldn't move from her spot with getting filled with dust infused lead. Sun and Took this a the signal to join the fight. Sun slammed a fist into a large White Fang with dog ears shouting. :Leave her alone."

A group of rifles turned toward Sun while few charged with swords and axes. Roman walked towards Sun as he kicked back a White Fang who'd gotten to close. "You know you're not the brightest banana in the bunch. Are you?"

Three White Fang charged each wielding a short sword. Sun ran to meet them kicking the closest one in the chest and rolling out of the way of a sword swing. Out of Sun's hand a red bow staff formed that he used to block another sword strike.

Sun slammed the head of the staff into the nearest Faunus crippling him while sweeping the feet out from another. More White Fang had surrounded Sun forcing him to go on the defensive.

The distraction had given Blake the opportunity to get out from cover and join the fight. Roman tried to fire a shot at Sun but was stopped when Blake jumped in front of him knocking the cane away. Roman held on and swung at Blake's head meeting nothing but air as she ducked under it.

Sun was still busy taking out the White Fang shifting his staff to a pair of pistol nunchucks. Using shots from the pistol the nunchuck flew incredibly fast taking out enemies left and right. One of the male's was even unlucky enough to take it to the crotch.

I had jumped down and like Sun was engaged with a group of White Fang. Using Grimm's Bane I blocked a sword swing and followed it up by kicking the assailant in the gut. I summoned a wall and slid it across the ground into a group of attackers knocking them into the side of a dust container. They hit the ground consciousness leaving a large dent from the contact.

Slamming Grimm's Bane into the ground mimicking what I'd seen Weiss do during combat training. Ice shot across the ground freezing feet to the ground. A swing from a sword and staff took out a large group of Fang unable to get free.

Sun cleared enough of the White Fang out to join Blake who was having trouble dealing with Roman. Even with her speed Blake couldn't land a strike. Roman was just as fast maybe even faster than she was.

Sun leaped into the fight just as Roman was about to land a blow. Using his nunchucks he blocked each attack thrown his way while Blake struck at every opening. Neither side could get lucky enough to land a blow. Sun knocked Roman's cane to the side and Blake kicked Roman's chest forcing back a few feet.

This was enough distance for Roman to point his cane at Blake and Sun's feet and shoot a grenade. The explosion launched the two back leaving them sprawled on the ground. Roman pointed his cane at Blake and pulled the trigger. At the last second his cane shifted to the side and he missed.

On top of a container was Ruby and a Penny the girl they had meet in Vale. "Oh little Red your back. Isn't past your bedtime."

Ruby pulled back the bolt on Crescent Rose loading another shot. Penny looked out at the scene taking it all in ."Ruby are these the friends you were looking for?"

A grenade arched toward the girl. And Ruby screamed. "Watch Out!" The only thing that stopped the grenade from making impact was the wall I summoned at the last second.

It was enough to stop the two from taking any significant damage. Ruby and Penny leaped of the container and Joined the fray. Ruby knocked down White Fang with ease using her speed and Crescent Rose's power.

Penny had deployed a group of sword that on string that she manipulated with ease. Penny easily batted away any attempt of an attack and followed with a swing of her swords. Roman tried to fire a grenade at her but it was futile. Penny simply held her swords in front using them as a shield.

More White Fang poured from the dock surrounded the five of us. Roman let out an evil laugh that would put most villains to shame. "Did you really think playing hero was the best idea. Well it's not. This is the real world. Heroes die and so will you."

Two Bullheads flew in overhead on landed next to Roman and he stepped inside. "Kill the little assholes. I don't need the getting in the way again." The Bullhead took off leaving us to take on the remaining White Fang.

Using a wall I surrounded using with cover as the White Fang opened fire. The cover was enough to keep us from dying but it wasn't going to last. "Do you guys have any idea's"

Ruby gave a nod and quickly laid out a plan. It wasn't simple but it would get the job done.

I made my way to the center of our cover and stabbed Grimm's Bane into the ground like before. I quickly made a pillar of used larger enough that it could hold a human inside. Next I sent a wave of fire dust through it that evaporated the ice instantly. The fog from the ice gave us the perfect cover to jump into action.

Ruby was the first over using her semblance to slam Crescent rose into a cluster of enemies. Blake and Sun where next to take on their own group quickly with honed skill. Penny and I followed making short work just like the others.

Soon the only thing left where the two Bullheads that opened fire on us. Blake, Sun and Ruby jumped behind a container and I summoned a wall in front of me. Penny was left out in the open and shot two swords into a containers behind her. She pulled herself back just as the bullets landed where she'd been.

Penny used her momentum to fly swing herself under one of the Bullheads. She shot three of her sword up into it penetrating it's armor with ease. With a large tug on her sword the Bullhead rocked to the side and crashed into the one next to it. The two Bullhead's fell to the ground in a ball of fire leaving the crew to pull free from the wreck.

The five of us met in the middle of the dock a little confused on what had happened. The flash of red and blue lights revealed the cops had finally arrived. Around us was the groaning or unconscious bodies of two dozen White Fang. In a flash the five of us turned to a group of four just as the cops came around the corner.

After an hour of questions from cops they finally accepted our story. Blake Sun and I had been out and heard a commotion from the dockyard. We went to investigate and found a robbery under way. We stepped in and tried to stop it. Ruby had been nearby and her the fighting. She joined in and together we stopped them from stealing most of the dust.

The cops did not care for our clear lies but it was easier than the truth. Trying to say we were doing the jobs cops weren't didn't help. Or that a red head with flying sword took out two Bullhead's then disappeared. With that they finally let us go just as the sun peeked out over the horizon.

Sun took off leaving just Me, Ruby, and Blake. It was obvious Blake was trying to avoid the inevitable confrontation. Ruby stopped in front of Blake giving her no room to run.

"Blake will you please come home. We really miss you!" Ruby looked up at the black-haired girl with eyes that could melt an iceberg. Even without that Blake knew she couldn't run any longer.

"Yes, Ruby. I will come back. I think I had enough time to deal with some stuff." Ruby gave a happy shake of her head and took off in front of us like a happy small child. The question that stayed in her mind though was what would happen between her and Blake when she got back.


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry to say this but this story will no longer be coming out on both Sunday's and Thursdays. I've started writing another story and it is becoming hard to write so much. I will keep updating this on Thursday's so don't worry I haven't stopped.**

The day after busting Roman was no more tiring than the day before. When we got back we were met by a very unhappy Glynda and a police officer. The officer had informed her of what happened and she was not happy. Glynda simply motioned for us to follow and we did giving startled looks between the three of us. Sun had stayed and Vale and escaped Glynda's wrath.

Glynda led us up to Ozpin office and let us inside. Glynda stayed where she was while the three of us walked in. Ozpin was in his chair looking out a large window behind his desk. "Thank you, Glynda I'll take it from here."

With that the door slammed shut leaving us trapped with the headmaster of Beacon. Ozpin turned in his chair to face us taking a sip from his mug as he did. "The three of you have caused quite the disruption in Vale of late. I had to pull a large number of strings to make the police let you go free. I only have one question for you. Why were you there?"

Blake's eyes drifted around trying not to meet the headmasters. It was inevitable as his eyes almost forced them to meet. "Miss Belladonna you have nothing to fear. I know of your past, I may not get out much but I do try and know as much as I can about my students."

The comment seemed to be even more startled knowing Ozpin knew about her. "I ugh don't know where to start?"

Ozpin took another sip from his mug and set down in front of him. "I already know about the fight between you and your team and how Boone followed you. I simply wish for you to fill in the rest."

Blake gave an uneasy nod and started talking about Sun and the information we got from him. "We met another Faunus who was from Haven. He was at the docks and overhead about a large shipment of incoming dust. We decided we should check it out seeing it was the only lead we had."

Ozpin sat forward in his chair pushing his coffee to the side. He seemed to be more interested in the conversation more than before. "We staked out the Dockyard and last night a group of White Fang tried to steal it. We were the only one's there so knew that something had to be done. Their was enough dust to supply an army."

"So you took it upon yourselves to fight back. Even though that meant the possibility of death!" Both Blake and I shook our heads in agreement to the statement.

"The next question is Miss Rose how did you end up in this situation." Ruby was startled at finally being pulled into the conversation. She took a second while gripping her cloak tightly around her. "I was out looking for my team. I was worried so I went into the search the city hoping I would run into them. Instead I ran into a girl named Penny that I met before the last time we were there. That's when we saw a giant explosion come from the docks and we rushed to check it out."

"I take it from there you met up with the others and helped to stop the White Fang. Is there anything else you wish to tell me?" Ozpin picked back up his mug relaxing in his chair. He gave a nod to me saying it was my turn to talk.

"The White Fang wasn't alone. At first it seemed like it but then a man named Roman Torchwick showed up. I don't know why the White Fang would work with him but they were. It didn't help that he was stronger than us."

Ozpin took another long sip and stood up from his desk. Grabbing his cane and made his way around the desk then sat on the edge. "I take it that this is the same Roman Torchwick that you ran into Miss Rose." Ruby gave a single nod to confirm Ozpin's suspicion. "Well thank you children for your time. Next time I do hope you come to us before taking matters into your own hands."

With a wave of his hands the doors behind us flew open. The three of us turned away walking out the door. Behind us Ozpin started talking. "The finals you missed for the semester you'll be exempt from. Your scores with come from the average of the rest of your teams. Next time please do remember you are attending an academy."

The doors closed just as he finished leaving us in the atrium before his office. The elevator to our left let out a ding and slid open. The three of us stepped inside and hit the button to go down. The second the door closed all three of us let out a worried sigh.

"Did it seem like Ozpin wasn't mad to the rest of you? I mean he let us go and basically gave us a reward!" Leaning against the wall I listened to the elevator music waiting for a response.

"You're not wrong. He only asked what happen and wasn't upset with us. He acted like this was something that happened on a daily basis."

"Ya but at least we can go back and join the rest of our team!" Worried flowed back over Blake and I knowing we were jumping right back into the fire. Blake's grip tightened on the railing and the bow on her head made a little twitch.

"Ya, we need to make amends now. If we don't it will only cause more problems." Blake let go of the railing and checked her bow. With a little push, she put it back in place.

"I know we do. I'm not scared of how Yang will react. The only thing I'm afraid of is how Weiss will." Just as the elevator stopped the three of us got out scooting past a man tall man with black neatly cut hair in a white suit. The three of us walked out to the courtyard back towards our dorm.

When we got back to the room we were surprised to find it void of people. However it wasn't void of a disaster. All across the room where flyers for missing people. On it was a poorly drawn picture of Blake and I."Ummm Ruby what happened?" Blake grabbed a flyer looking it over with a small grin.

"Well we were out looking for you and Weiss came up with this idea. She said if we couldn't find you then maybe somebody else might." Blake put down the flyer on a desk and looked across the room. Across Weiss's and Yang's desk was a stack of handwritten Flyers and an array of coloring tools. "Weiss did this?"

"Well of course I did!" Blake jumped at the sudden response. In the door was Weiss in her usual attire holding a stack of layers. Her face was as stoic as ever but her eyes showed her real feelings. Relief knowing her team had finally come back and were together again.

Blakes face reddened try to come up with something. All that came out was a stutter and fumble of words. "Blake you don't have to say anything. I was wrong for saying those things. I let all of my father's frustrations that he had placed in me out at you. I want you to know I'm sorry."

Weiss was trying her best to keep a calm voice but you could feel it rising in fall with her emotions. Tears formed in her eyes but none fell. The apology made Blake eyes wander to the ground. She was just as sorry for running. "I'm sorry to. I hid who I was from you guys. And when you learned about it I ran. I can't do anything to change my past but at least I can assure you I've left it behind. Their too much injustice in this world and it comes from both sides. I won't go back to the White Fang I'll make my own path and go at it my way."

Weiss stepped forward and placed in arm on Blake's shoulder. Their eyes met and the apology was complete when they both felt the same. Ruby jumped in and forced the two into an uncomfortable hug. Neither were comfortable with such close contact but the overjoyed girl in red made it bearable.

"Awe that was very **ice** of you Weiss. You to made up so cute." Ruby let go of the hug and chucked a book at Yang who dodged it with ease. "What I'm just saying don't judge a book by it's cover. Weiss is actually very sweet. She spent hours trying to find you guys."

Weiss released from the embrace and took a defensive stance. Her arms were crossed in front of her and was leaning to one side. Her face scrunched in disgust at being outed by her teammate. It was a face that would make a Beowolf turn back with its tail between its legs.

"I was worried about my team. I caused the problem. As a proud and honor bound citizen, I thought I should fix it. Is there a problem with that?" Weiss raised an eyebrow to the question she asked but Yang for the first time held her tongue.

"Well, I'm sorry we worried you, Weiss. Next time do have more faith in us. We can take care of ourselves. Hell, I lived alone in a forest for three years." Weiss stance changed when she looked at me. It was lighter and more withheld as if she was worried.

"Boone you're the one I should apologize the most to. I didn't know Blake was a Faunus but I knew you were. Yet I still said all those things. Even before that I discriminated you for being a Faunus but having the power of your family. I'm sorry it was not right for me to had done so."

Weiss become more uncomfortable as she talked. She was in no way use to ever apologizing for her action. She was used to others just taking it. The sentiment never left her voice the entire time. She truly meant every word she said.

"You're forgiven but in return I want you to do something for me." Weiss looked up from the ground and looked up at me. So did the others around me. The air was lighter than before and Weiss seemed to relax even if only a little.

It did take on a confused feeling. None of the people around me ever heard me ask for anything. I had all I needed and if I did I could get it myself "What is it.? Do you want me to buy you something? I will whatever it is I will do it."

"No, I don't want you to buy me anything. This might sound weird but I want you to spar with me. I know it's weird but I want to prove I can use the power I have and not the other way around. The best way would be for me to go against someone with equal stature."

Weiss's glowed with pride at the idea testing her strength against me. She gave a slight bow and responded. "I would be honored to spar with you. When would you like to? I'll set everything up for us."

My hand came up to the back of my neck rubbing it. "Well, the thing is I would rather just do it now. If that's ok?" Weiss was shocked and I could see the head spinning in her head.

"Well there is a lot to take care of but I can do it. I'll need to call the Vale Arena owner and rent it out. Then I need to get a referee and Ohh how about…"

"Weiss we don't need all that. We can just head down to one of the Gyms. It's a friendly fight not an official match." Weiss blushed realizing she had started going overboard. She started shifting on her feet back and forth."Sorry I'm not used to really doing something without the you know.."

"The rich aspect? Yes I understand just meet me down in the main gym. There's a nice combat zone and hopefully we can use it. I'll meet you there in an hour first I'm gonna get some food." Weiss gave a nod and I grabbed my bag of gear from my bed and headed out the door.

When I got to the cafeteria I was surprised to find a group of Familiar faces. Team JNPR was sitting at one of the tables doing a variety of things. Ren was reading a book while Nora and Jaune where telling stories to another. Pyrrha was listening to music while writing something in a notebook.

Pyrrha looked up from her notebook and say me and shouted. "OH HELLO BOONE!" a couple of people gave cruel looks to the girl who quickly realized she had shouted. She pulled the earbuds out and gave an apologetic sorry to those around her. "Hey guys what's up."

Nora quickly started to spout something out about how she had an eating contest with Yang and she had won. Ren laid a hand on her shoulder and tried to calm her down. Jaune gave a smile at the ecstatic girl but was the first to respond coherently.

"Nothing much just hanging out before break starts tomorrow. What about you?" The others gave a confirming look to me saying they had the question too.

"Well, I'm guessing you guys don't have all the details so where to start." I took a second to think and tried to find a way to tell the story without revealing Blake was a Faunus."

Pyrrha was the one who gave me the out saying. "Ruby already told us about Blake and how you left with her. However, from there, we've only heard rumors." I gave a nod and decided to start with me leaving with Blake.

"Well after the fight and everyone found out about Blake she took off. I followed and caught up on the airship. We decided it was best if we let things cool down and stay in the city for a day or two. While met a Faunus from Haven and we learned about a large shipment of dust coming in."

Nora had finally calmed down and out of the four was the most mesmerized by the story. When I took a second to clear my voice she urged me to go on.

"Blake wanted to check it out hoping it wasn't the White Fang and so we did. We ended up running into them and got into a fight. During it, we ran into Roman Torchwick the guy Ruby fought. Somehow Ruby joined us and we were able to stop them."

"What about your team have you guys made up?" Pyrrha's question was obvious but still a touchy subject.

"When we got back we were questioned by Ozpin and left about an hour and a half ago. When we got back Weiss and Blake made up. She even apologized to me for things she said. It was nice of her."

"Well, that's good. A team that can't work together isn't really a team. Might I ask though why you're here alone." Pyrrha was nailing every question. Nothing slipped past her. If something was happening or in question she knew.

"Oh well I came to grab a snack before me and Weiss fight." Nora got up from her spot recognizing the word "fight" in a heartbeat. The rest of them mainly Jaune looked as confused as if they tried to watch an Ursa juggle a Nevermore a few Beowolfs. "Didn't you guys just make up. I mean fighting right after is kinda taking a step back!"

"Oh sorry if that confused you let me explain. I asked her if she wanted to have a friendly match with me. She agreed and so I;m meeting them in a half an hour for it." A few heads shook understanding what I meant. Nora on the other hand was still stuck on the word fight. "Can we come watch you and Weiss? I want to see you put her in the ground!" Nora only emphasized her excitement by slamming her fist through the table.

"Umm sure that's fine I don't think she'll care. But don't make this something big. It's just a friendly match."

Oh boy was I wrong to think this wasn't going to be something big. Thanks to Yang and Nora contacting most of the school the gym was deemed too small for the fight. We got moved to the school arena and most of the seats were filled. Who didn't want to see a fight between the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and the Faunus who beat the "Invincible Girl?"

"Yang I can't believe you did this. It was supposed to be a quick friendly match. Not a school-wide event." The blonde gave a shrug she'd been berated by Weiss already. It was too late to change anything and crowd was already getting tired of waiting. "Sorry couldn't help it. But hey at least you've got a crowd to cheer you on."

Shaking my head I made my way to the center of the arena standing across from Weiss. Both of us were in our combat attire. Ruby was standing in between us in a referee outfit with a whistle in her mouth. With a loud blow she grabbed the audience's attention.

"Ok, you two I want a clean fight. The first to have their Aura drop below 20% loses. Please take your place and get ready!"

The screen behind Ruby lit up displaying our Aura's. Weiss pulled out Myrtenaster and gave her cylinder a spin. I pulled out Grimm's Bane and slide my helmet into place. The screen flicked up numbers starting at five.

"5"

"4"

"3"

"2"

"1"

With a blow of Ruby's whistle the fight commenced. Weiss dashed backward and threw up a group of defense glyph making it harder to break through to her Aura. Proceeding she laid down a group of different glyphs as traps so I could only attack in certain directions.

I mimicked her moved and took a step back. My hud tracked where she placed the glyphs including those she stacked on top of others. Pulling away I thought of at actic that would shatter them all at once and give me time to attack.

A simple stab into the ground let me shoot a flame across the arena floor. Glyphs shatter under the heat and disappeared. The defensive glyphs saved Weiss from taking damage but it drained a small amount of Aura. It seems each glyph would require her to sacrifice some Aura no matter how little.

With a lunge forward I closed the distance and attacked her. With a reaction almost as quick as my own, she held up her blade. The two swords met and bounced back from the blow. Weiss's stance was solid and she her balance didn't deter at all during the attack. A quick retreat allowed me to get out of her way while she stabbed at me.

A new group of glyphs appeared this time all around me. The glyph exploded and shot ice at me I would have skewered if I hadn't summoned a set of wall around me to take the brute of the attack. Weiss took the time while I was distracted to surround the ground with a group of glyphs that shone a solid black. If I touched one the force would launch me in the air like a rag doll.

Using a wall I created a path for me to run across so as not to disturb the trap. Weiss was on top of me the second I got across. I thrust followed by a swipe where the first thing I blocked but she kept up. Her swordsmanship was better than mine. She had spent time learning to wield it and she did with little flaw. That though was enough for me.

When she thrust her stance lifted up shifting her balance. Knocking her sword to the side I stepped in close meeting a wide-eyed girl as I slammed into her with my shoulder. One of her defensive glyphs shatter as she fell to the ground. Weiss was quickly back on her feet but not enough to block as i slashed Grimm's Bane across her body.

Stumbling back she used to Myrtenaster as a crutch to regain her balance. When I went in again she was quick to use a glyph to shoot herself to the side. I swung through the air and missed her. With a slash from her sword a my Aura dropped by fiver percent. It wasn't major but if she could land one after another I would lose very quickly. Weiss herself was down to ninety percent Aura level.

Weiss had returned back to her stance pointing Myrtenaster straight at me. Another propulsion glyph shot her forward at was almost as fast as Ruby when she used her semblance. I slide to the side nearly missing being skewered by her very large needle. She wasn't done though another two glyph turned her and sent her towards my back.

My hud lit up indicating the oncoming attack. I summoned a wall behind me and heard a loud thump as something made impact. The crowd sent out a loud laugh and told me what had happened. Weiss hadn't had time to slow down and had ran straight into it. This wasn't enough to stop her. All it did was remove another glyph. It seemed she could only stack so many and couldn't put up more till all the others were gone.

She was around the wall and stabbing at me. Or she would have if I hadn't moved. I jumped over the wall then let it disappear. Weiss turned to face me but instead received a sword thrust to the stomach. The remained of her defensive glyph shattered and her Aura took damage. It dropped down to 85% but held where it was. I tried to follow it up with a jab to her side but stepped on a ice glyph.

I didn't know when she had put it down but it ensnared my leg in a case of ice. Using my semblance I quickly let the black flame melt the ice and freed myself. Once again Weiss set up another layer of glyph surrounded me. This time they surrounded my in a half sphere. I i moved more than two feet they would go off and encase me in an iceberg. Geeze was really like ice.

Well if this is how it's going to be then so be it. I stepped forward while activating one of Grimm's Bane's dust crystals. The glyph went off and the ice shot out trying to grab a hold of my. They would have if Grimm's Bane hadn't been encased in a red flame that grew as I fed my own flame into it. The two fire's combine together grew and melted the ice as quick as it grew.

Weiss's glyph could continue to produce ice and failed after a few seconds. Stepping free I let the flame die and the sword return to normal. The surprise came when Weiss slide her sword between my blades handle and flicked it out of my hand. Grimm's Bane clattered to the ground and a glyph launched it across the arena away from me.

Weiss had me defenseless with her sword up to my throat. "Surrender. You've been disarmed and can't fight back." A chuckle escaped my throat and made Weiss grip her blade tighter. She couldn't see my face but she knew I had something up my sleeve.

She stabbed at me but the sound of metal hitting metal stopped her. In a split second, I had deployed Life and Death and caught her blade. The crowd cheered in approval and a flash of worry passed over Weiss.

Staying close I fired off a shot gun round that glanced of Weiss's Aura cutting it down. The attack gave room for Weiss to make her own. She stabbed her blade into my leg and placed a glyph on it. Immediately I was dragged to the ground onto my left knee. The glyph kept me they're unable to move or block most of the attacks Weiss threw my way.

In the span of the thirty seconds I was pinned to the ground Weiss had done enough damage to my Aura to drop it down to 65%. Weiss had gained the upper hand and still had 70%. When the glyph finally ran out I dove forward rolling across the arena. Sliding on my knees I turned and began firing of Life at Weiss.

The bullets were caught by a glyph and shot back at me like a massive buckshot. A quick wall caught them but a few made it past. I was lucky that I had enough room to avoid but it was a close call. I needed to get closer even with my guns I was at a disadvantage from a distance.

A repulsion glyph gave me an idea and stepped on it. I was launched fifty feet in the air and came soaring back down. Fire off Death behind me I shot downward faster right at Weiss. Hopefully, when I hit her I would do more damage to her than myself.

Lighting myself up with myself semblance I impacted on the ground right next to Weiss sending out a shockwave while crushing the ground around me. Weiss took the shockwave head only staying up by stabbing Myrtenaster into the ground. The force pushed her back cutting a line through the ground five feet long. My aura dropped down to 45% but for Weiss, it had done more. She was down to 35%.

Standing up I walked out of the crater and stopped when I was a few feet from Weiss. I gave her a second to collect herself and take her own stance. "I never expected someone to use my own Glyph against me. Call me impressed."

I turned on the speakers on my helmet allowing my voice to be heard. "Hey gotta do what you gotta do. I'll use anything a can to help me." Weiss smiled at me and launched herself forward. Using death I knocked the blade to the side and slice Life across her gut. I followed by spinning and shooting Weiss in the back with a shotgun round.

Weiss had been more off balance after getting hit by the shockwave. I could tell she was tired and was leaving herself more open. I stepped back letting her collect herself once again. It would be a shame to hit her while she was down. She got up and dusted herself off. This time her stance was different. She had more openings but stood with her blade to the side.

Another glyph to shoot her forward she swung Myrtenaster with lightning speed. Rolling out of the way wasn't an option. Instead, I threw up Life and Death across my chest. Weiss impacted hard when she swung her sword. The use of more glyph gave her the power of an Ursa maybe even a Goliath.

The attack landed so hard it threw my arms up in the air leaving my chest exposed to a kick from an heiress in high heels. I let my aura take the hit but I could still feel it. My stomach did a flip and I let out a groan. I had to do something quick just another hit and I was out.

I don't know what it was like to others but I think it looked something like this. A skull masked man in body armor cover in black flames that spread throughout the arena. The air grew darker as the fire started to consume the light around it. A few terrified looks flowed through the crowd. Many though what the hell is that.

I never liked to use my flames unless I made them into something. The use of walls was just convenient but letting them go free was dangerous. Even now I was scared of losing control. The last time that happened I wiped out half a square mile of forest in an instant.

I wouldn't let that happen though I would control it. Concentrating I pulled the fire back to myself making it smaller but more powerful. Stepping forward toward Weiss I moved slow but with power. Weiss was frozen in place petrified by the sight. I stopped a few feet away and slammed my blades into the ground. Webs of black coiled through the ground heading towards Weiss.

She shot out of her daze and tried to run away from them. She was too late they had already reached her. A tendril shot from the ground and struck her along the back. Another using Myrtenaster she cut them down with a single stroke but more came to replace them. After thirty seconds she could keep up and she took another couple attacks.

Weiss fell to her knees panting and I pulled my blades from the ground and let my fire dissipate. The crowd was silent as I walked across the arena and picked up Grimm's Bane. I walked back over to Weiss still on the ground panting heavily. Her Aura was at 21% and she didn't have enough to use a glyph.

Holding Grimm's Bane above her head Weiss looked up watching the blade come down. I slowed it down at the last second and started tapping it on her head. After a couple of heavy taps her a Buzzer went off saying she had gone down to 20%. A rupture of laughter sprung from the crowd and soon shifted to cheers. I had won by lightly hitting the Heires till her Aura dropped one percent.

Weiss hung her head down to the ground in shame at her loss. I slid my weapons away and let my helmet retract. I held my hand out to her prompting her to look up. My eyes meet hers and they shone with gratitude as she took my hand and I pulled her up. Keeping our hands clasped together I rose them into the air. The crowd gave a booming round of applause.

Ruby Blake and Yang came down into the arena with smiles on their face. Ruby was the first upon us in a tight embrace. Yang dragged Blake forward and joined in. In the middle of the arena was a tight embrace of team RWWBY. Blake and Weiss seemed uncomfortable and their faces grew red. Ruby and Yang seemed to enjoy it while I simply let it happen. After a few second we all let go taking in a much needed breathe."Thank you Weiss. I know this might have been weird but it meant a lot."

"I should be the one thanking you. You were the one who accepted my apology even after all those terrible things I said." Yang leaned out to Weiss letting a embarrassing. "Aww how cute." She didn't stay standing up though. A glyph from Weiss pushed her off and to the ground. A roar of laughter escaped from the four of us while Yang let out a low growl.

"Boone I do have to say when you fight you become something else. Especially when you use that flame with your attire. It makes you seem a little bit like..." Blake paused when she saw little red ready to burst. She had wanted to say something and she gave a nod letting her talk.

"The Grimm Reaper. That's what everyone is saying. Your fire is so cool. It's all black and flamey and stuff. Why don't you use it more?" I gave a pat to Ruby's head and she rubbed back against it. We both seemed to enjoy the little contact.

"It's harder to control than you'd think. If I let it go out of control it would wipe out the stadium. So usually I use it to make things easy to control." Ruby shook with joy. She loved hearing about weapons and semblances. She was mesmerized simply let out an "Ooooh."

"Well now that we are done here how about we go clean up then go get some food. Tomorrow is the first ay of break and we have things to get done before we leave." A round of nods confirmed the idea and we started our way back to our dorm.


End file.
